Last one out, turn off the lights
by Cassiopeia.writes
Summary: *On Hiatus* The Host Club is forced to disband and the members return to the music room to gather the remnants of their time together before going their separate ways. As darkness falls, only two hosts remain; and both are left questioning their feelings for each other and searching for common ground now the club is at an end. Further summary within. KO x HF (and other pairings)
1. Chapter 1: End of the Host Club

**Summary: The Host Club is forced to disband after Tamaki is accepted into the Suoh household, and the members are ordered to clear out the music room by the end of the day. As evening falls two hosts meet and are left questioning their feelings for each other as the club comes to an end and they are forced to go their separate ways. Despite the differences between them, can they find a common ground and accept their feelings? And can they all find a way to restore the club?**

**NOTE: Despite some interweaving attractions, this is a Kyoya x Haruhi fic, other stories and pairings develop and are discovered along the way.**

**AN: ****I don't own Ouran or its characters…..Mores the pity.**

**Chapter One: The End of the Host Club:**

Kyoya stood alone in the middle of the third music room, watching the door as it slowly swung closed, cutting off the loud voices of the twins as they left. For a moment he stood still, before moving back to his chair in the corner and sinking down into it. He picked up his cup and took a sip of the bitter coffee, it was almost cold now, but he needed something to settle his nerves. He had been expecting this day for quite a while, but now that it had finally arrived… he had no idea how to proceed.

Tamaki had announced his departure from the host club, and Kyoya had always known that when that day came, it would mean the end of the host club itself. And as predicted, the morning after Tamaki's announcement the order came from the Headmaster for the host club to be permanently suspended, and the hosts were to remove all their belongings from the music room by the end of the day. Honey and Mori had come earlier while he had been cataloguing the inventory, and they were followed soon after by the twins; and although they had shared coffee for old times' sake and exchanged stories of their exploits, the laughter was forced and the conversation became stilted, and all of them were eager to escape the miserable atmosphere.

The room was unbearably empty now. The twins had removed all the costumes, most of which they or their mother had made. Honey had cleared the little pantry of all cakes, which Mori obliging carried home for him, and now pretty much all that was left were various odds and ends and the numerous tea sets that Kyoya had ordered over the past two years to accommodate each guests tastes, and copious amounts of that damned instant coffee that everyone seemed so keen on, and he had no idea what to do with any of it.

He raised his head at the sound of the door opening and watched as Haruhi peeked in. She didn't seem to notice him sitting there and entered the room slowly, easing the door closed behind her. He said nothing as he watched her turn in a slow circle looking around the darkening room. Just like him, she hadn't bothered turning on the lights, and now the setting sun was casting the room in dim amber hues and shadows. He couldn't imagine what she was thinking. Was she relieved that her debt was gone? That she no longer had to play host for a club that she had made clear she thought was inane? Did she care that she was the reason that Tamaki had to leave the club, and that her interference was the reason the club had been suspended for good?

Kyoya felt an unfamiliar anger bubbling up inside him and set his cup back in its saucer with a loud clink that made Haruhi gasp, and she whirled quickly to face him, her hands coming up to rest over her heart. When she saw him sitting there, she released a sigh of relief and flashed him a brief sad smile that caused his anger to melt away as quickly as it had come, and he released a sigh of his own. Of course she knew, she was the brightest girl he had ever met, and even if she hadn't been, Tamaki hadn't been exactly subtle. To tell someone, emphatically, that it had _nothing_ to do with them. Twice. Well, that was pretty much guaranteed to tell them that it had _everything_ to do with them. And the fact that she had run to see the President of the Suoh Company showed that she wanted to try to fix it, as foolish as it seemed at the time, Kyoya had to admire her bravery.

"You missed the others, they just left." he said as he leaned back in his chair still watching her.

She nodded as she made her way to the seat opposite him and sat, bringing her feet up, and wrapping her arms around her knees, hugging them to her. "I know. I waited till they were gone, I couldn't face them again after what happened," She flashed him another small smile, "I really didn't think you'd be here. I thought you'd be with…" her voice trailed off.

"Tamaki has gone home. He's still required to return promptly after school, to attend his _grandmother's_ training in the Suoh business." His voice betrayed the bitterness he felt towards the harsh woman and what she was doing to Tamaki. She had always treated her light-hearted grandson with contempt and silence, but now that she seemed to be on the verge of accepting Tamaki as the Suoh heir, she seemed determined to control him completely.

"I see." Haruhi sighed, "I thought that now she had gotten her way, he would at least be allowed visitors, or be allowed out to see his friends," Haruhi's voice was resigned, and he watched as she plucked absentmindedly at one of her shirt cuffs, "I thought that as long as I wasn't there he could at least see the rest of you," she laughed softly, "I thought she'd at least let him out to play."

He smiled at her bad joke, but Haruhi didn't notice, instead she was staring out the window at the sun setting over the Ouran Academy grounds. Her fingers were still playing with her shirt cuff, and Kyoya had an urge to reach over and still her hand, as her fidgeting was making him restless. The silence between them grew, Haruhi remained looking out the window, but her eyes no longer seemed to be taking in the scene outside, and he remained watching her, wondering what she was thinking.

She had always been a bit of a conundrum. A common girl, obviously very intelligent to get past the Ouran entrance exams and win the rare scholarship, un-intimidated by the wealth of her class-mates and determined to excel in her studies so she could follow her dream of becoming a lawyer. And yet she didn't seem bothered to try and fit in or ingratiate herself with the rich and powerful students who could have helped her achieve her goal. She turned up to one of the best schools in the country, hair cropped horribly short, dressed in her father's old clothes, looking like a boy and seemed completely unfazed by the fact that she did not fit in here, and making no effort to try to do so, until she was pulled into the host club.

He had always been raised to look down on the lower classes, but he couldn't help but admire her obvious intelligence, she was consistently first in her class, and had the bravery to go after her dreams, but there was something more to Fujioka, Haruhi…..something that everyone that took the time to get to know her discovered. They had dubbed her The Natural when she joined the host club, because she seemed to put people at ease at once and seemed interested and caring towards everyone she met, even those that might not treat her with the same regard. And the strange thing was, that it was genuine…..all the other hosts used aspects of their personalities in their host personas but it was all really an act. But, while Haruhi may have been hiding the biggest secret of them all, the way she treated those around her with respect and consideration…..that was real.

Kyoya could never understand it, why would she bother wasting true emotions on the guests? He had thought that she was merely trying to increase her number of designations so she could clear her debt quickly, but the more he watched her the more he realized that this was simply who Haruhi was. She was brutally honest at times, but never with the intention of hurting anyone. She was observant, often the only one that could tell the twins apart, and seeing when people were in trouble or trying to hide their pain. Her rare flashes of anger rivalled his own, and it had made him smirk to see the others quail before her, despite her tiny stature and lack of martial training, but those spells were soon to pass, as she was quick to forgive. She was insightful seeing to the heart of problems, even when those closest to the issues couldn't. And though Kyoya was rarely bothered with philosophical musings he had thought on occasion, that if Tamaki was the obvious heart of the Host Club, Haruhi had quickly become its soul.

He shook his head to free it of these pointless thoughts, and came to his feet. Haruhi turned to face him, but he didn't look at her, instead he moved to the entrance to flick on the lights.

"I guess I'd better clear up, someone will be coming shortly to see if we've cleared the room," he said as he moved back to the table to clear the cups that they had used earlier. As he reached for one, he suddenly felt a small warm hand wrap around his wrist. And his eyes snapped up to meet Haruhi's soft brown steady gaze.

"I want to help Kyoya-senpai." She said firmly.

He looked at her uncertainly, "Well, I'll gather these, and you can clean them while I sort out the rest of the things, I have people coming to collect the…"

"That's not what I mean," she interrupted, "I want to help fix the host club, to help Tamaki-senpai." Her fingers tightened their grip slightly, "I need to fix this."

Her eyes seemed to bore into his and he was lost for words for a moment, he could plainly read the desperation in her eyes and for some reason it caused the anger that was simmering beneath his calm exterior to bubble up once more.

"It's not your problem to fix," he said irately, "It's done. The host club is finished. And unless Grandmother Suoh has a sudden personality transplant, that's the way it's going to stay."

He pulled his hand from her grasp, grabbing some of the cups that lay on the table and made his way towards to door to the small kitchenette, when he heard Haruhi laugh.

The sound brought him up short. He had never imagined a sound like that could come from Haruhi, Her laughter, normally light was now was harsh and bitter and he turned to face her. She had dropped her feet to the floor, but she was hunched forward, her head dipped, so that her hair hung over her face and he was unable to see her expression. But then she spoke, and her tone gave away her emotions.

"Of course, I should have known better, the _Shadow King_ wouldn't put himself on the line, not unless there was something to gain." Kyoya looked at her incredulously, where was this animosity coming from?

She never raised her head as she continued, "I guess going against the Suoh's, even for the sake of Tamaki or your other friends, isn't worth it for you."

"Haruhi….."He began, he placed the cups on a table and turned to look at her again, "Haruhi, I…"

"No I understand, Kyoya-_senpai" _she finally raised her eyes to meet his, and he was startled by the tears in her eyes, "You've always been honest, you've made it clear that you only act if there is merit in it for you." Kyoya remained silent, an icy chill washing over him as he saw the anguish and cold anger in her eyes, but she didn't look away, "So I'll make a deal with you Senpai, you can add anything you wish to my debt, if you help me fix this."

"Haruhi, your debt it cleared," he said, hating the tremor in his voice, he was unused to dealing with naked emotions like this, and never expected anything like it from Haruhi, he had the sudden urge to leave the room and escape from this unnecessary drama. "You are not the cause of this! Even if you had never joined the Host Club, Tamaki's grandmother would have found another way to control him and shut the Club down, she never approved of it."

Feeling like a coward he turned his back on her "Go home Haruhi, it's been a long couple of days for all of us, you'll feel better once you've had some rest."

_Crash!_

He spun to face her once more, and there at her feet lay one of the cups, that a moment ago had been sitting on the table before her. She rubbed angrily at her eyes before looking at him once more.

"I'm sorry Kyoya-Senpai, I seem to have broken it, please feel free to add it to my debt." She said calmly.

"Don't be ridiculous, it's just a cup….." and as he watched, she reached out and swiped two more cups onto the floor, where they shattered, cold coffee seeping into the carpet and splashing her shoes.

"And now? Half a wedgewood tea-set is surely worth some debt?" Her voice was empty of emotion, but he could see she was trembling, and yet her face was becoming steadily flushed.

He took a step towards her, and she reached out picking up a saucer and dropped it on the floor, where it smashed and merged with the other debris. He paused, not quiet able to believe that this was the same Fujioka, Hauhi, that was always so calm and collected, her eyes never left his as she wiped the rest of the rest of the porcelain from the table onto the floor. One of the saucers failed to shatter and rolled a decreasing elliptical path, before teetering and falling over, both of their eyes followed its movements, and when it wobbled to a halt, she moved without looking back up at him and raised her foot to step on it.

"Enough!" He said roughly, and moved quickly to pull her away. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

As he pulled her away she stumbled, and she grasped the lapels of his blazer to steady herself, even as his arm wrapped instinctively around her, pulling her towards him to hold her upright. He remained still for a moment, gazing down at her but she seemed to be staring at her hands that were still clenched around the fabric of his blazer, he was about to step away from her grasp when he felt a tremor pass through her body and he saw her flushed skin suddenly drain of colour; her knees buckled and his other arm came to wrap around her, holding her close to him and keeping her steady.

"Haruhi?" he called softly. _'What the hell was going on?'_

Her face was pressed against his chest, and he could feel her body shake with silent sobs as it moulded against his, the wetness of her tears seeping through his shirt and cooling his skin. For once in his life, Kyoya was unsure of himself, he didn't know what to do to comfort this girl, his friend. If it had been Tamaki, he would just have pointed out how stupid he was being, whacked him on the back of his head and told him to snap out of it, but that was because Tamaki would have an emotional episode every couple of days and generally they were about nothing of any consequence.

But this was Haruhi, and what was upsetting her _was_ a big deal, it was upsetting Kyoya too and the others, and she was so desperate to fix it, so sure that if she only work hard enough, if only Kyoya would help, that they could do it.

He pulled her closer, one arm wrapped around her waist and holding her against his body, his other hand moved up to trail his fingers through her hair repeatedly, as he leaned down to murmur soothingly in her ear. He wasn't even sure what he said, merely concentrating on the sensation of her body pressed against his, waiting for the tremors to pass, and the silky strands of her hair passing through his fingers as he tried to calm her. He didn't notice her hands dropping from his jacket, until they suddenly wound around his waist. He smiled slightly as he felt them tighten around him, and felt Haruhi's breathing settle into a calm rhythm, glad that the irrational moment between them had finally passed, and things could be normal again. He untangled his hand from her hair and brought it to her chin, tilting it up even as he leaned back to look down and ask if she was ok. But the moment their eyes met, he stilled, and couldn't seem to find the will to speak.

Her hair was dishevelled from his ministrations; her skin was blotchy from her tears. But her eyes…. though red rimmed from her crying spell…..her eyes, were burning with emotion, and all he could do was stare at her. He seemed unable to pull away, the sensation of her slim body pressed against his suddenly filled his awareness, and yet he remained still. Her stare was unwavering as it met his and he felt his skin grow hot under her scrutiny, her dark eyes seemed to draw him in, requesting something from him that his mind couldn't make sense of. He felt himself sinking into her gaze.

A knock at the door brought him back to his senses. He drew a breath, realizing that his lips were millimetres away from hers. He dropped his arms to his sides, stepping back suddenly, her arms letting him go at the same instant and he cursed under his breath and a second later cursed himself for that reaction.

"Come in." He called turning towards the door, thankful that his voice remained steady, even as he felt his heart thudding loudly in his chest.

One of his household maids stuck her head in the door, "We're here to collect the items you requested, Master Ootori." She called quietly.

He beckoned her forward and pointed towards the tea sets that lay waiting on a nearby table, "Package those for storage, until I figure out what to do with them," then he pointed towards the broken set that lay nearby, "dispose of those and set any remaining pieces aside." He turned back to where Haruhi had been seconds before, unsure of what to say, but she was no longer there and he turned quickly to the exit only to see her slight form slipping out the doorway.

He reached out a hand, about to call her back, but fell silent. His hand falling to his side as his fingers seemed to burn with the sensation of holding her body against his.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2: Reflections Part One: Haruhi

**AN: Thanks to the people who have reviewed and favourited/followed after the first chapter. They're a great encouragement.**

**I just wanted to point out that obviously this story is not going to follow the manga canon exactly (otherwise at the point the host club was disbanded Haruhi and Tamaki would have been well on their way to realizing they have feelings for each other) …so no, Tamaki is still in 'father' mode, Haruhi is as clueless as ever, and the other hosts….well, we'll see what happens, shall we?**

**As before, please review, if you enjoyed the chapter.**

**I don't own Ouran or its characters….Mores the pity.**

**Chapter 2: Reflections, Part One: Haruhi**

Hauhi stood still, not breathing, unable to move as she stared into storm-grey depths that inched steadily closer until they were all that filled her vision. Her heartbeat, so unsteady before, calmed and became a rhythmic resounding pulse that seemed to fill the room as she looked into the eyes that were focused solely on her. A knock sounded at the door and she blinked drawing a brief shuddering breath; her thoughts remained vague and unfocused until suddenly she realized just how closely she and Kyoya-Senpai were standing together. She blinked again, in shock this time, and dropped her arms from where they were wrapped around his waist. She took a step back at the same moment he did, feeling his arms slipping from her also, taking with them the warmth that had surrounded her moments before.

She heard him curse softly under his breath, but a second later he was turning to speak to whoever was at the door. She vaguely heard someone enter and announce that they were here to collect Kyoya-Senpai's belongings, but Haruhi's mind was a blank, unable to focus for a moment and she glanced around the room in confusion. Almost at once she spotted the shattered debris of the china on the floor, and then the memory of the last few moments came rushing back. Embarrassment flooded though her, settling heavily in the pit of her stomach, and without a second thought she turned and fled the music room, brushing past two other Ootori maids in the doorway with no word of apology in her haste to escape.

'Stupid!' she thought angrily as she ran down the hallway, wiping away the remnants of her tears, 'How could I have been so stupid!'

She flung open a door at the end of the corridor that led to a dim and rarely used stairwell. The door swung shut behind her and she leaned against it for a moment, catching her breath and trying to calm her now racing heart. Pushing herself away from the door she sank down to sit on the top step of the stairs, not caring if she dirtied her uniform. Staring at her hands, she saw they were trembling slightly and grasped them together tightly, refusing to let her emotions overcome her again.

'How the hell had she let this happen' she wondered miserably.

She had only gone to the music room to reminisce about the past year with the Host Club, and to clear her head… honestly she just wanted to be alone for a moment. Hikaru and Kaoru had been her constant shadows for the past week, longer in fact, ever since Tamaki had been accepted into the main Suoh household and had been for all intents and purposes put under house-arrest. They had all thought it would be a temporary arrangement, and that his grandmother merely wanted to lay down ground-rules. They had all been so sure that he would return….that _life_ would return to normal. But suddenly, Tamaki-Senpai announced he was leaving the Host Club, and although she could see the disappointment written all over the twin's faces, they seemed to be watching _her_ even more closely. They had come with her to see Suoh Chairman yesterday, had seen how Tamaki had shown up and turned her away….

And then this morning, the announcement had come that the Host Club was cancelled indefinitely. Although she had tried not to show it, she knew that somehow it was her fault, but the twins seemed to see her worry, and since then they tried to follow her everywhere. It was like they were waiting for her to have some strange girlish breakdown. She laughed under her breath….. as if she would ever act like that….

'No' she thought, still smiling, that sort of drama was more her father's wheelhouse. But then mortification flooded though her once more, and heat suffused her cheeks as she remembered her actions in the music room. Like a child throwing a tantrum, she had smashed the china, demanding Kyoya-Senpai's help, and she could still see the consternation in Ootori'-Senpai's eyes as he watched her. Her head sank to her knees as she felt wave after wave of embarrassment wash over her.

She hadn't expected to see him there; she was actually hoping to have the room to herself. She had met the other hosts earlier, but as they tried to drag her with them to the music room, she pulled away, claiming that she had to go home as her father was expecting her, then waited in a nearby corridor for them to leave the club room. She had thought that Kyoya-Senpai would have been with Tamaki-Senpai, but when she saw him there sitting in the corner, her surprise had quickly turned to relief.

If there was one thing Ootori, Kyoya was capable of, it was fixing seemingly unfixable situations. As she had sat there opposite him, staring out the window, she was wondering what his plan was, as surely he had one for getting the club back together? She couldn't imagine him without notebook in hand, hovering around the edges of the music room as the other host's entertained. She had begun to wonder how she could help him, running numerous scenarios through her head.

When he began to clear the china from the table, she had reached for him, almost instinctively, sure that he would offer her a solution that she could not yet see. But he had refused, and had seemed so angry, something she had never imagined Ootori-Senpai would willingly show. And when he turned away from her, telling her to go home, the knowledge that she was somehow the cause of this whole mess, and yet he wouldn't help her fix it, had made her feel guilty and angry all at once. Before she knew it a cup was in her hand, and just as quickly she had dashed it to the floor. The look of surprise on Ootori-Senpai's face had almost been worth it, surely now he would listen to her, now that she was in his debt once more.

'Annoying rich bastard' she had thought. He had the resources and cunning to solve this problem, just like he had solved many of the problems they had faced before. Hadn't he done it time and time again, why not now? And she wanted to help, but he had brushed her offer aside. He wouldn't help his best friend, wouldn't help her….. and she found herself swiping more of the china onto the floor, in a petulant demand that he listen to her.

But still he remained silent….. even more of the china crashed to the floor by her hand, and suddenly she was pulled away, and into his arms. And just as suddenly, a weeks' worth of sleepless nights worrying about Tamaki-Senpai, and the Host Club, and what she had done to cause this had caught up with her, and her strength waned. The moment she felt his arms around her those hated tears came to her eyes and wouldn't stop flowing. And she found herself holding onto him and sobbing in his embrace.

Of all the people she could imagine falling apart in front of; Ootori-Senpai had to be the last of a short list. And yet, there, with his arm wrapped round her and his fingers combing through her hair, she relaxed for the first time in days. And all her tears of hurt, worry and anger flooded out of her. His breath had been warm against her ear as he murmured words of reassurance, that everything would be okay, that _she_ would be okay. His words faded away to nonsense as his warmth surrounded her, calmed her….

And then he pulled away slightly, she felt his fingers tilt her face up till her gaze met his. His familiar smirk was in place, his eyes alight with amusement, but as she looked at him, both faded. His smirk softened to a slight smile, and his light grey eyes had darkened, seeming to pull her into their depths as he grew closer….too close, she had found herself sinking further and further….. until that knock at the door, brought her back to her senses.

Had she almost kissed him? Really?

'Oh god, what must he think of me?' Haruhi wondered, 'Acting like some weak hysterical idiot, no better than those other girls that came to the host club to be fawned over.'

Sitting in the stairwell, Haruhi shut her eyes tight, willing the mortification of the past half hour away. She really didn't know why she cared so much. She had never wanted to be part of the host club, had only been dragged in to their crazy society so she could pay off her debt. She should be glad that debt was cleared, right? The hosts were annoying, interfering in her life again and again. Wanting to experience commoner life, as if it was some great adventure for them (well except for Ootori-Senpai…who annoyingly seemed to take absolutely everything, including her father, in his stride), but for her it was just everyday existence. And each time they exclaimed over some simple thing in her world, it made her feel just how insurmountable the gap was, between her world and theirs.

When her mother had died, the one thing she had focused on…. had clung to, was that she was going to get into a good school and follow her mother's footsteps and become a lawyer. Even at that young age she had dreamed of going to the Ouran Academy, the most prodigious school in the region. So she left her childhood behind and her life now revolved around studying and preparing for the school of her dreams….and taking care of her father. She never consulted him on her plans for her future education as ...well….he seemed to be going through some changes of his own.

Even when she became aware of her father's new personality traits, she had brushed them aside; it was irrelevant. If her father wanted to live as a man or a woman, if he wanted to live _with_ a man or a woman, it made no difference to her, as long as he was happy. She knew he had loved her mother completely and that something had broken inside him when she died. And if this new way of life helped him piece himself back together, she was happy for him.

She ignored the taunts other children threw at her in elementary school, ignored the hair pulling, and the name-calling. She suffered more of the same in middle school…. well less of the hair pulling, more of the name-calling, and even more of the suggestive taunts. She still ignored them all, knowing that soon, if her grades held up, if she just held her course and studied hard enough she would be going to a high-school where no-one knew her, and no-one would know her history, and she could just study and graduate and become a lawyer, and everything would be like she planned.

It hadn't turned out that way. First because her father hadn't known of her plans to attend Ouran, he had blown her uniform budget on girly clothes for her (and him) that she couldn't return. Then, one of the annoying neighbour's children had stuck gum in her hair, and as she couldn't afford to go to hairdressers to fix it, she had chopped it herself. And then as she had outgrown her old uniform and had nothing else suitable, she found herself wearing her father's old clothes to school.

She had been afraid, but her determination had helped her walk the path up to the school where others were chauffeured to. Had made her excel in every class, where other of her class-mates merely passed the time. And had driven her to succeed; where most expected her to fail. And then in her desire to study in peace and quiet, her fate had driven her to the third floor music room, where she had knocked over that stupid vase and had become embroiled in the stupid host club. She had hated it, had hated these rich entitled boys that would never have to work as hard as her to achieve their place in life, and yet were holding her ransom, over a piece of broken pottery.

But as she got to know them, she realised that each of them had something to prove in their own way. None of them had an easy path through life no matter how much money they had at their disposal, and she came to admire them, they were intelligent, driven and loyal. And when they found out she was a girl, they still seemed to accept her, to value her, without judgement…..well apart from Tamaki, who seemed to take it hard…..

Little by little they seemed to invade her life. Whereas before, she had no real friends, now she had six boys who seemed intent on occupying every moment of her time, one way or another. And yet she had gotten used to it, had become accustomed to having them around. She had realized that the things they did and said were never meant to cause her offence, that they truly wanted to know about her life and wanted to be part of it.

And yet…. although they seemed to have overrun her life completely, they had even recruited her father as a willing accomplice… now, looking back, she couldn't say the same for them.

They knew almost every aspect of _her_ life, whereas she merely caught glimpses of theirs… And now for some reason, Tamaki was being forced to leave the club and essentially his friends. She had asked why and in his attempt to tell her it had nothing to do with her; the sweet, kind idiot had told her in no uncertain terms that it was all her fault. And because she knew nothing of his real life, apart from the few rumours the other hosts told her, she couldn't tell what she had done wrong. But she knew she was the reason.

But why? What had she done? What knowledge could his grandmother have against her that she could use against Tamaki? Her phone buzzed in her pocket but she ignored it. 'What could Tamaki's grandmother know about her, that she could bribe Tamaki with?'

And then it hit her. 'Oh Please' She thought, 'How childish! Was it really that simple?' Haruhi began to laugh bitterly in the darkened stairwell. Grandmother Suoh was going to use the fact that Haruhi had been dressing as a boy to threaten Tamaki into compliance? And Tamaki was so loyal; he wouldn't do anything to betray Haruhi?

Her phone buzzed again, and this time she pulled it out. Looking at the number that was calling, she smiled, a plan coming to mind. Never mind Kyoya- bloody-Ootori, Haruhi knew exactly how to deal with this. She flipped open the phone and answered. "Hey, Good to hear from you….listen…..yeah, I'm sorry….but I need a favour, I'm still at Ouran, can you give me a lift home?"

She stood, and made her way down to the Ouran Entrance. After all this time amongst the high and mighty at Ouran, Grandmother Suoh was a fool if she didn't realise that even a commoner could learn the game. If she wanted Haruhi off the game board… if it meant getting Tamaki, and the Host Club back, that's exactly what she would get….


	3. Chapter 3: Reflections, Part Two: Kyoya

**AN: I don't own Ouran or its characters….**

**Chapter 3: Reflections: Part Two, Kyoya.**

Kyoya remained staring at the door as two additional maids entered and joined the first to begin packaging up the final remnants of the host club's paraphernalia; but he waited, watching the same door swing slowly closed for the second time that evening. His eyes followed every inch of its arc to the final resounding click, before realizing that Hauhi had no intention of returning. He stood still for a moment, before sighing and bringing his thumb and forefinger up beneath the edge of his glasses to rub tiredly at his eyes. It had been a long day, but the last few moments seemed to have drained the last of his reserves, and now all he wanted was to return home, and fall in to blessed sleep, and try to forget this whole week had ever happened…

He turned away from the all too enticing exit, his eyes passing over the maids busy wrapping and packing the other painstakingly picked china, until his eyes lit on the debris that Haruhi had left strewn on the floor, and the sole unbroken saucer caught his eye. Making his way over to where it lay amongst the other shattered pieces he picked it up, carefully avoiding the broken shards of china that surrounded it. Turning it over in his hands, he noticed that although it had remained relatively intact there was now a chip that marred its gilded edge, and shallow cracks defacing the fine glaze that coated the surface. He rubbed his thumb over the roughened edge repeatedly, a sad smile reaching his lips, as he mused on how closely this sole piece of china mirrored his group of friends today. The group that Tamaki had somehow, in his own wonderful, crazy way had gathered together over the past two years. Still held together somehow; but on the verge of breaking apart, and one piece seemingly removed entirely.

He made his way slowly to his old desk and sat, turning the saucer over and over in his hands, staring pensively at the twirling pattern of the china, as it revolved in his grasp. Ignoring the maids as they packed and cleaned, barely noticing the steadily darkening evening outside the windows; trying not to focus on anything really, only blues and greens and gold changing to white, repeatedly, over and over. But the revolving colours seemed to draw him in, and with the spinning colours the memories of the past week cascaded through his mind.

Memories of the day that Tamaki had moved into the main Suoh residence….

Tamaki had called him repeated that day, but that was nothing new - Tamaki called him numerous times almost every day; normally to talk incessantly about crazy grandiose plans for the next host club session, or to gripe about the twins teasing him, or the twins bothering Haruhi, or just to talk about Haruhi….his beloved daughter….

But Kyoya had been busy that day, ironically, looking into what the lawyer of the Suoh household was up to and trying to figure out what it what it could mean for Tamaki's future. By the time he received Tamaki's message to say that he was being accepted into the Suoh residence, it was too late and Tamaki was firmly ensconced in the main house, without his staff, or his dog….or his phone. And Kyoya was left with no way to contact him and no idea what to say if he had. But with Tamaki's message came a feeling of dread that lodged in Kyoya's stomach, a feeling that things were changing, and not necessarily for the better.

When he had finally seen him at the start of the new term, Tamaki had told him of his grandmother's orders that he was only to attend classes at Ouran, and then return home to study the Suoh business. He would no longer be able to attend the host club, or socialize in any way with his friends; only classes and then home for more study. And though Kyoya could see how isolated he had become, Tamaki had been so happy about being finally accepted, and so determined that he would make Grandmother Suoh proud, and so sure that his isolation was only temporary, that Kyoya hadn't the heart to burden him with his fears, or to stand in Tamaki's way. So he merely waited to see what would happen next.

Kyoya felt a swell of anger towards the Suoh matriarch. She had always looked down on her illegitimate grandson…. never wanted to see him as a worthy heir, and lately she was constantly testing the limits of his loyalty. No matter what he accomplished, whether it was the highest grades, or a perfect piano recital, or charming the important daughters of his grandmothers clients, or behaving perfectly at the rare family function he was invited to attend. None of it seemed to matter to her…..

She had always shown that she detested the idea of the Host Club but had never interfered in it, as if she had, it would have shown that she had acknowledged Tamaki in some small way. But Kyoya had always known that when the day came that she finally did accept Tamaki as the Suoh heir, she would find some way to destroy it. But instead of taking the club away from Tamaki, she had done worse; she had taken Tamaki away from the club.

She knew that the threat of never allowing him to see his mother again was enough to make him comply with her wishes, and god knows his father never stood up for him… but no, that wasn't enough for her! It seemed that she was going to use every card she had to hand to keep Tamaki in line, and if the threat of keeping his mother away wasn't enough, she was going to use Haruhi's secret to make him feel guilty for ruining Haruhi's life, and bringing shame on the Suoh name. One more thing his grandmother would use to bind Tamaki to her will, one more thing she could use to tear their little club apart.

Kyoya had wanted nothing more than to go to the School Chairman and demand that he stand up for his son, for him to defend Tamaki and his place in the host club, which was the most popular one in the school, and the most influential. But Kyoya hadn't dared do it. The alliance between the Ootori's and the Suoh's was a difficult and delicate one to negotiate, and Kyoya's tenuous relationship with his own father, and the fear of what he might do if his son had stood in his way or interfered in the alliance between the two families had given him pause. And that hesitation had cost Tamaki and Kyoya their self-made little family. But they weren't the only ones affected by this.

Hikaru and Karou had been furious - the one group they had finally willingly become a part of (all thanks to Tamaki's tenacious will) was being pulled apart. Mitsukuni was in tears and Takashi…..well it was hard to tell what Takashi was thinking most of the time, but Kyoya was willing to bet that if Mitsukuni was upset, Takashi was pretty irate. And while the twins and the others were all for rushing in and rescuing Tamaki, they were bound by the same ties Kyoya was. Their families all had dealings with each other, and to interfere in Suoh family business couldn't bode well for any of them. Or Tamaki.

But it was thoughts of Haruhi that plagued him now…. of how she had become the most recent pawn in Grandmother Suoh's plans. Haruhi was the one who had been dragged unceremoniously into their world against her will and had her life taken over, while never _really_ being part of theirs. She amongst them was the one with the most to lose, the one who, with a flick of the Chairman's pen could have lost her scholarship and have been expelled from Ouran, would have lost the future she worked so hard to achieve. And yet she was the one that had fought so hard for them all….

How was it that she was the one that was brave enough to face the Chairman? To demand his help, and point out his fear; why was she the one to put herself in the firing line for them all?

When Kyoya had received the message that Haruhi and the others had gone to the Suoh Headquarters and were meeting with the Chairman, he had felt a brief twinge of irritation at their interference. He had dragged Tamaki there, unsure of what to expect, and then had stood frozen beside Tamaki in the doorway of the Chairman's office and watched as Haruhi; such a small slight figure, had stood tall against the Suoh Chairman and demanded answers.

Kyoya had found himself awed by her, that she would take a stand when the rest of them feared to do so. Tamaki had strode forward demanding that she stay quiet, but Kyoya had been unable to move, silenced by the strength and anger in her eyes. The hurt that entered those dark eyes as she listened to Tamaki tell her that she had to leave as she was being bothersome had made him want to look away. But as she turned to leave, her eyes met his for the briefest of moments, and he saw that hurt fade, as if reluctant to let another see it, and instead her eyes narrowed in determination, and he felt an unfamiliar wave of shame under that steady gaze. And then it was gone, and she was gone, striding past him out the door, the others following after, while he remained frozen in the doorway…doing nothing to help.

As Tamaki walked by him to return to school, Kyoya had glanced back at the chairman, and knew in that moment that the club was finished. The Chairman loved his son, but if the club was going to interfere with Tamaki becoming the Suoh heir, by its members causing scenes in the Suoh headquarters - something that would surely come to Grandmother Suoh's attention. Then Kyoya knew the Chairman would remove that obstacle. Kyoya sighed as he turned away…..if only Haruhi had stayed away….

And when she had come into the music room tonight, he wanted to blame her completely for the clubs demise, blame her for anything at all, to take the edge of the anger and despondency he was feeling. But the sad smile she had flashed at him had stolen those thoughts away. And he was left staring at her, musing on the conundrum that was Fujioka, Hauhi, and how important she had become in all their lives. He watched her as she stared out the window, wishing for a moment that he could read her thoughts, and wanting to reach out and grasp her fingers that were continuously playing with her shirt's cuff, as for some reason it was making him edgy, watching those slight fingers toy repeatedly with the white fabric.

He needed to get away from that restless tension that was building between them, and had moved to start cleaning the room, something he had never done in the history of the Host Club. But the next moment she had grasped his wrist and the sensation of her warm skin against his, had stilled him. Then her words, pleading for him to help her fix the host club and help Tamaki, had made him feel inexplicably angry.

Didn't she know he wanted to? But he was caught in the middle, and if she hadn't interfered he might have been able to think of something? But it was too late now. And he had lashed out at her….and her reaction had been startling to say the least.

The words she spoke and the sight of her dashing the china to the ground still shocked him. Haruhi, usually so calm; normally taking everything in her stride, was talking down to Kyoya, breaking china and crying. And he found himself pulling her away, into his arms, holding her close and trying to comfort her. And when her crying spell had passed, he had felt relief….it was a passing moment, that was all. Until he looked at her, and those dark eyes had met his, and even now he still felt that feeling of being drawn in, drawing closer, wanting something….

Someone cleared their throat nearby, and he looked up dazedly. One of the maids was regarding him curiously, and he stared back at her questioningly, until he remembered that she was one of the new servants that his mother had hired a few weeks ago, and from the way she was looking at him, she had obviously been trying to get his attention for a while. He found himself floundering for a moment unable to remember her name; and he shook his head slightly to clear it, coming back to his senses as he straightened from where he was slouching in his chair.

"Yes Mariko? What is it?" he asked finally.

"I'm sorry to bother you Ootori-sama, I just wished to let you know we had finished. I have arranged for the sets to be returned to the house and placed in storage until you require them again."

"That's fine. Thank you Mariko." But the maid remained where she was, still regarding him uncertainly.

"Was there something else?" he asked a little sharply.

He felt a brief twinge of remorse as he watched her give a little start of surprise at his harsh tone, but he remained silent, and a moment later she gestured to a small box that lay on one of the coffee tables.

"I just wondered Ootori-sama, what you wished done with the remaining pieces of that set?" she nodded to the piece he still held in his hands. "They are very pretty. It seems a pity to just dispose of them."

He stood and made his way to the box, peering in he saw that only two cups and saucers remained, and the small coffee pot and an even smaller cream-jug. He stared at them for a moment, before placing the chipped saucer he still held in his hands to rest gently amongst the other items.

"I'll take care of them." He said quietly without looking up, and not quite knowing why he had said it at all, he should just have let her take them away. "That's all for the evening, you may return to the house."

He heard the maid make her way to the door, but when he failed to hear the door opening he looked up once more, his eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"What is it now?" his tone became cold as his impatience rose. Normally his dark manner alone would be enough to send a maid scuttling away, but Mariko straightened her shoulders under the Shadow-King's gaze, and he found himself admiring her tenacity, if not her obvious lack of self-preservation instinct.

"I just….well…. you don't seem quite yourself Ootori-Sama," She said haltingly, "I just wondered….if something was wrong…. or if perhaps you were unwell?" She seemed to freeze as if expecting a rebuke.

He almost laughed as he watched her stumbling over her words. Normally he would have told her in no uncertain terms that she had no place to question him, about anything! And that if she did so again she would be looking for employment elsewhere. But honestly he hadn't the energy for any of it tonight, and her remarks had hit a little too close to home. Something was wrong… many things were wrong really, and frankly he was sick of it.

"No, I'm fine…. Ootori's are always fine." He said finally, quietly, not bothering with his usual dark glare, "That is all Mariko, you can leave." This time his tone brooked no argument, she left, and he was finally alone.

He looked around the empty room, everything was cleared, all signs that the Host Club had ever been there had been wiped away. His eyes were drawn to the spot where he and Haruhi had stood barely half an hour before and he felt the phantom sensation of her warm skin and soft hair on his fingertips. Suddenly he found he didn't want to be here, in this empty room any longer, and he picked up the box that held the remnants of Haruhi's tantrum, and made his way to the door, pulling it open, flicking off the light, and walking away without a backward glance. Although as he walked down the corridor, he would have been lying if he had said that he didn't pause for a moment when he heard the door click shut behind him.

He made his way swiftly down the stairs, and through the side doors where his driver waited, opening the door of the car the moment Kyoya appeared. Stepping in, he placed the box gently down beside him, before leaning back in the seat, sighing in relief as the door closed behind him and the chauffeur made his way around the car to the driver's side. He was about to direct him to take him home, when he saw the main entrance doors swing open, and the object of his most recent thoughts walked through.

Haruhi stood there for a moment, illuminated in a pool of lamplight and Kyoya's hand reached instinctively for the door handle, wanting to call to her, wanting to offer her a ride home, wanting….that something again. But the moment his fingers touched the handle, he saw another car pull up, one he recognized… The car's door opened and Haruhi stepped forward, but her eyes swept over the schools driveway and lit on his car, and he imagined that her eyes met his for a moment despite the dark evening and the tinted glass that separated them, before she was pulled into the other car, and was whisked away.

He cursed the Hitachiin twins under his breath, and then wondered at his reaction, before shaking it off, and facing forward. He met the chauffeur's eyes in the mirror and nodded shortly. The car moved off, taking him home, but he couldn't help reaching into the box beside him, retrieving the damaged saucer and spinning it through his fingers once more, allowing the feeling of cool china against his skin to calm the tingling sensations that lingered on his fingertips, distracting him from the memory of soft skin, and the silken strands of hair that he had carded those fingers through over and over again…..


	4. Chapter 4 : Makeovers and Do-Overs

**AN: ****I don't own Ouran or its Characters, and as always please review if you like the chapter, or have any constructive criticism.**

**Chapter 4: Makeovers and Do-overs.**

As they sped through the streets, Haruhi finished speaking and silence fell in the back of the town car. She sat facing the twins looking from one face to the other waiting for some reaction. But the silence remained unbroken, dragging on, and the twins merely stared back at her in consternation.

"So?" she asked finally, "What do you think?"

Hikaru and Kaoru glanced at each other, seeming to communicate silently in the way that only they had, but then they turned back to face her. Kaoru took a deep breath, leaning forward as he opened his mouth as if to say something, but then he stilled, mouth closing again as he stared at her once more, his brows drawn together in perplexity. Haruhi found herself holding her breath, waiting, but then he sat back in his seat again, sighing audibly before glancing over at Hikaru again. His brother on the other hand, had turned away from both of them to look out the window, the light of the street lamps that passed, illuminating the interior and showing his face set in a grim scowl.

Well this was a first….she had left the twins speechless. And if this had been any other time, Haruhi would have congratulated herself on the fact. But now, their silence was making her feel edgy.

"What?" she asked at last, exasperated, "It makes sense…doesn't it?"

Kaoru nodded slowly, "I guess, but…"

Hirkaru spun, slapping his hand over Kaoru's mouth, before turning his glare on her.

"Are you crazy? You can't just decide to do this." His tone was filled with an anger that made Haruhi's rise in turn.

"Why not? It's my life. It wasn't like I was asking your permission!" She retorted, before adding reluctantly, "I just wanted your help."

"Well the answer is no, I'm not going to just let you…" Hikaru began, but Kaoru broke free of his brother's grasp and elbowed him away.

"Why?" Kaoru asked quietly, "Why would you do it now?"

Haruhi paused for a moment, hesitant to tell them all the reasons she felt she had to do this, sure that they would argue against them. No, she had to make them think that this was something that she _wanted_ to do, just for herself.

"Well, why not? It never mattered to me whether people thought I was a boy or a girl. And it's not like I have to keep up the pretence for the Host Club anymore." She replied steadily, trying to hide the bitterness she felt at that thought.

"But now everyone is going to know!" Hikaru said petulantly.

Haruhi looked at him in confusion, "So? What difference does that make?"

That only seemed to make Hikaru scowl harder at her. Kaoru looked at his brother for an instant, his face filled with some emotion that Haruhi couldn't read, then reached out to grasp his brother's hand gently, calming him. They twins regarded each other briefly, before Hikaru pulled his hand away and returned his gaze to the passing scenery, while Kaoru turned his attention on her once more.

"I think what Hikaru means is – you've kept this secret for so long, if you suddenly turn up at school as a girl….people are going to talk..._ Everybody_ is going to talk and some of them are going to be angry that you've deceived them all this time." He looked at her searchingly "Why would you put yourself though that?"

Haruhi paused for a long moment - Images of the times she had spent with the Host Club running though her mind, but memories of the last week were at the forefront. Of Tamaki and how he had been forced to distance himself from the others, of Honey and the tears he had shed when he heard the club was finished, the hardness around Mori's eyes as he watched the smaller boy cry, the twin's anger, and Kyoya….Kyoya sitting alone in the music room, Kyoya and his ever-present bloody notebook, nothing to write in it now that club business was done, Kyoya telling her it wasn't her fault…. but still refusing to help her fix it.

He was probably right of course. In all likelihood Grandmother Suoh had numerous methods of keeping Tamaki under her thumb, and keeping the Host Club disbanded; but if the fact that Haruhi had pretended to be a boy was one of them - well then Haruhi would remove that particular card from her deck. Especially if it meant that the others may have the smallest chance of resurrecting the Host Club eventually - even if her plan meant that she would not be able to be part of the club again... it also helped if it proved Kyoya "know-it-all" Ootori wrong.

She shook off those dark thoughts, realising that the twins were still watching her, waiting for an answer, and she shrugged, smiling slightly.

"I guess...just because its time. There's no reason for me to keep it a secret anymore." She said, her voiced filled with enthusiasm, which she had to admit, if only to herself, was less than wholehearted. But she gave them her brightest smile, "So what do you say? Will you help me with one last makeover project?"

* * *

**The following morning:**

Tamaki's soft snore's cut off abruptly as his alarm went off. He stretched, revelling in the warmth of his bed, before opening his eyes and staring at the ceiling, he lay there for a moment, smiling, expecting Antoinette to leap on his bed any minute and begin licking his face, his own personal furry second alarm call… but then his smile faded. Of course she wouldn't, Antoinette wasn't with him anymore, and for an instant, his face filled with sadness…

But then he brushed it off, sitting up in bed and running his hands though his hair; it was a new day… another opportunity to prove himself to his Grandmother. And the sooner he did, the sooner everything would return to normal and he could have his friends and Antoinette back….and his mother, finally his mother…. If he just worked hard enough, and followed the rules, everything would be fine.

He showered, then got himself ready for school, and fixing his customary smile in place, he opened the door and made his way downstairs, ready for the day ahead. Maybe if he was lucky, he might be able to catch a glimpse of Haruhi today, might be able to send her a fond smile...unnoticed of course….

* * *

When the twin's alarm went off, they blinked and opened bloodshot eyes ,regarding each other blearily for a moment. Pushing themselves upright from the bed where they fell asleep only hours earlier, they looked around themselves tiredly, before remembering what had happened the night before; and then their eyes locked on one another's.

It had been in the early hours of the morning before they had finished with Haruhi. Kaoru had insisted that if she was to follow through on her plan then she needed to turn up to the Academy the following morning, looking as feminine as possible, to make people wonder how they had ever thought she was a boy at all. The hope was that the students would say that they had suspected it all along, anything to avoid the embarrassment that they had been fooled…and by a commoner no less… that would mean a complete makeover.

Thankfully one of the outfits they had removed from the music room earlier in the day had been one of the Ouran Academy's girl's uniforms that the Club had kept..…purely in case one of their guests had ever damaged their own uniform…._only_ that…_nothing_ to do with the fact that certain host club members who would remain nameless had secretly wanted to see Haruhi in it.

Who'd have known, that they finally would….and that it would have been slightly too big for the petite girl. Kaoru had taken it away to his mother's workroom to make the necessary adjustments, leaving Hikaru to work on Haruhi's hair and makeover ...alone_._

Hikaru had never been more thankful in his life to be without his twin's company for once, so that Kaoru couldn't see how he waited nervously as Haruhi took a brief shower in the twins en suite, only to appear once again, dressed in Kaoru's dressing gown. He had gestured her to sit before the dressing table, thanking his lucky stars that she didn't want to wear a long girlish wig even as his hands trembled while drying and fixing her short hair into a more feminine style, unable to meet her eyes in the mirror.

She had sat patiently, talking little as he worked her tresses into a work of art, slight curls here and there, her bangs parted to highlight her dark eyes; he held his hand over those eyes as he worked the hairspray over the strands to hold them in place. And as he removed it, her gaze met his questioningly. He just smiled, and told her to close them once again, as he worked on her eyebrows, plucking each errant strand gently as he could, relishing the feeling of her soft skin under his fingers as he held her face still, taking a little too long as every second her eyes were closed was another moment he could just watch her without feeling like he was burning up under her dark gaze.

Suddenly Kaoru burst back into the room, Hirkaru and Haruhi turned to face him and he held up the altered uniform proudly.

"Should fit like a glove!" he said smugly.

And it had. Both twins had stared in astonishment as the new Haruhi had walked into their midst, before turning to each other and nodding in agreement that the makeover was an unmitigated success and giving Haruhi the thumbs up! Then they called their driver to take her home, after she loudly and pretty violently (thought Hirkaru rubbing his bruised arm dejectedly) refused to sleep over.

As they walked her out, Kaoru turned to hand her a bag of make-up that they had put together from the remnants of the host club stock, while giving her implicit instructions on how to use each one (not too much, you want to look like a girl...not like... well...your Dad.) that had earned another slap on the arm for each of them. But before he handed it over, he grasped her hand with his free one, ignoring Hirkaru muffled gasp beside him.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked gently.

She looked back him, then at Hikaru, "Honestly? No, I'm not. And I'll admit I'm nervous, I don't think I was very girly even before I started at Ouran, so I'm not sure how well I'll be able to play it now." She said faintly, pulling at a curled strand of hair, but then she smiled and straightened her shoulders.

"But I'm just going back to who I should have been when I started this school, who I should have been before getting gum in my hair, and wearing boys clothes to school, and breaking a ridiculously over-priced vase in a room full of very strange boys." She grinned at them, and they found themselves grinning back. Her grin faded and she gave Kaoru's hand a squeeze, "I'll be fine."

Then she smiled and batted her newly darkened eyelashes at them. "But thank you for helping this damsel in distress tonight." She reached up and quickly kissed each of them on the cheek, then turned and with her head held high made her way to the waiting car. Never looking back to see Kaoru grinning at her from the entrance way, or Hikaru's shocked stare, his fingers held to the cheek she had just kissed.

The twins prepared for bed, each lost in their own thoughts. Kaoru seemed to fall asleep almost at once, but Hikaru fell back against the pillows, picturing Haruhi in her uniform, imagining various scenarios, where he would finally ask her on a date and her shy giggling acceptance. Then Kaoru moved, turning away from him, murmuring something un-intelligible, he seemed restless…..his fingers searching for something out of reach. Hikaru watched him, feeling guilt welling up within him. They had always liked the same things, it stood to reason that they would fall for the same girl too. So how was Hikaru meant to tell Haruhi how he felt, if it meant hurting Kaoru in the process. He settled back, resolving to find a solution but soon drifted into sleep.

Now waking, Hikaru and Kaoru's eyes met and silently their hands reached out grasping each other's tightly, thinking of the day ahead. Then they grinned.

"Well, here goes!" they whispered in unison.

* * *

By the time Haruhi's alarm went off she was already staring at herself in the mirror, trying to ignore the bags under her eyes from too little sleep. Oh who was she kidding, she hadn't slept a wink… she couldn't relax at all after the makeover, finally comprehending the enormity of what she had decided to do, realizing that everyone was going to be staring at her today, that everyone was going to see her as her true self for once; well some semblence of her true self she thought pulling at the collar of her dress….

Brushing her newly styled hair out of her eyes, she applied a little of the make-up the twins had given her, to hide her pale, slightly drawn features; and straightened her fitted clothes for the tenth time in as many minutes. She fixed a bright smile in place, barely recognising the girl staring confidently back at her and wishing she actually felt that same sureness within.

She sat on the edge of her bed, imagining how today would proceed….the whispers, the condemnation, the accusations…it wasn't going to be pleasant, but she would focus on the Hitachiin twins, they swore to stand by her today, she could count on their commitment, just as she knew if they was ever in a similar bind they could count on her just the same.

She had heard her father coming in a little while ago after his night shift at the bar, and she tried to sit calmly, not fidgeting, until she heard his loud snore's resounding throughout their small apartment. She wasn't ready to face him just yet, she would deal with his squealing delight when she got home from school that afternoon, she smiled sheepishly as she thought of how overjoyed he would be to see her like this.

Finally she stood, stealing another quick glance at her reflection and shaking her head ruefully at the sight, before slipping out of her room and into the kitchen to grab breakfast and make her lunch. Then steeling her shoulders she left the apartment to walk to the train that would take her to Ouran, and the day ahead.

* * *

A blaring noise pulled him from his dreams and Kyoya's arm lashed out flinging the offending alarm against the nearest wall, where it disintegrated… Sighing he closed his eyes... sleep came again, and she was there once more. His arms were wrapped around her, holding her close….She looked at him, confused and uncertain, but he smirked at her confidently, he knew he would find a way to make things right. She smiled up at him... trusting him, and he closed the distance between them, finally kissing her after what seemed like weeks of waiting, and then again and again, deeper, Then she was pulled away….. he tried, but couldn't follow her…and she faded...

Another alarm went off with its annoyingly familiar chime, and Kyoya slammed the inconsiderate device against the nearest hard surface, where it gave one last sorrowful whine before falling silent…Darkness and peace once more... She was standing there, watching him, her pale figure seemingly the only source of light in the dimness. Her dark eyes were fixed on him and he found himself reaching for her….. wanting to hold her, to trace his fingers over her soft skin, to kiss her,….. but she stepped aside out of his reach, and suddenly he could see the rest of the Host club standing there, frowning softly at them. She glanced at them, then at him and she smiled, and his dark dream lit up and he reached for her again. Then she nodded not at him, but towards them and they grinned, but his world faded a little….

Another of Kyoya's veritable arsenal of alarms went off for the third time that morning and he finally dragged himself into some semblance of a wakeful state, he reached out to shatter the most recent offender into submission, but his fingers brushed against something cold and hard, and he felt it slipping off the edge of his nightstand. His other hand reached out unconsciously to catch it and he found himself holding the same saucer that Haruhi had left damaged after her emotional outburst the night before. The alarm blared in the backround as he stared at the piece for a moment, the memories of the previous evening flooding through him, before placing it carefully back on his nightstand. He gently turned the alarm off and and sat up in the bed, leaning back against the pillows as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

When he had finally made it home the night before, he had joined his parents for dinner, trying to concentrate on their conversation and answer his father's questions without showing how distracted he was, but it had quickly become and excercise in futility. He had excused himself early under the pretence of having to prepare for an exam for the next day and finally escaped to his room. Turning on his computer, he had hoped to distract himself with stock prices and spreadsheets, but the figures soon became a meaningless jumble, and he found himself just sitting there staring blankly at the screen, his mind constantly replaying the events of the day, especially those final few moments with Haruhi in the music room. Giving up any hope of accomplishing anything useful that night, he had turned the computer off and gotten ready for bed, only to find himself lying there sleepless, wondering about her, if she was ok now, had she calmed down? Was she still angry with him? He could still see that look of disappointment in her eyes, and that was what grated on his nerves more than anything else, that she would think so badly of him. It made him want to prove her wrong, to find a way to help Tamaki and get the Host Club back together, no matter how hopeless a cause it looked right now.

And when he had finally fallen asleep with that thought in his mind, she had invaded his dreams. Time after time she was there, firstly looking at him with those accusing eyes, and even in his dreams he found that he wanted to find a way to erase the disappointment in her gaze. So he had thought of a plan, a way to fix everything, and those looks of accusation had turned to admiration and he had relished it...but now in the light of day, he had no idea what the plan had been, and was even more confused about why he cared so much.

Shaking off those dreams, he finally rose, showered quickly and dressed; making his way downstairs and heading straight out the door and into his car. The driver surprised by his earlier than usual appearance, hurried to the driver's seat, before speeding away under Kyoya's curt instructions.

Kyoya sat back tapping his fingers rhythmically against the door's ledge, barely noticing the passing scenery in his impatience to get to school. He would see Tamaki and the others, and check on Haruhi, make sure that she was ok, and then he would be able to lay these ridiculous worries to rest, and he would be able to forget all thoughts of holding her, of kissing her. And he would be able think rationally once more...

TBC


	5. Chapter 5: First day, all over again

**AN: ****I don't own Ouran or its characters, mores the pity...**

**Chapter 5: First day all over again.**

**Kyoya.**

Kyoya stepped from the car pulling his book bag behind him and slung it over his shoulder as he eased the car door shut with his elbow. He stood there for a moment looking around at the few students that were milling about the school entrance. It was still quite early and the majority of students had yet to turn up, but Kyoya had arrived early for that exact reason, hoping to place himself in prime position to see the other club members as they arrived and to have the time to speak to them before school began; especially Tamaki and Haruhi.

As the car pulled away, he drew his iPad from his bag before moving towards the entrance to sit on one of the benches that lay on either side of the main door, planning to spend the time while waiting for the others constructively, wanting to look over the stocks and shares that he had been too distracted to work on the night before. But before he had made it three paces he heard someone yelling his name and half turned to look.

The air left his lungs in a chocking gasp as two arms were suddenly wrapped around his neck and he was tackled bodily from behind causing his to stumble a few steps forward and almost drop his beloved tablet. His name was yelled excitedly once more, but this time directly into his ear and he winced, jerking his head away, ears ringing painfully from the near deafening noise that came from an all too familiar voice.

"Good morning Tamaki." He sighed resignedly, as he righted himself, slipping the tablet back in his bag and reaching to pull the constricting limbs from around his throat.

"Hey Kyoya!" Tamaki replied brightly, still clinging to him, "How are you this fine spring morning?"

"I'd be better if you weren't strangling me," He replied drily, "It's a little too early in the day for oxygen deprivation." He continued trying to pry Tamaki's arms from around his neck, only for them to disappear as Tamaki released him with an apologetic chuckle.

Kyoya ran fingers through his now dishevelled hair and pushed his glasses firmly back into place as he turned to face his friend. Tamaki looked the same as ever, all bright smiles and barely contained energy and Kyoya felt himself relax at the sight of him, only now realising just how concerned he had been for his friend and what he was going through.

"You're here early Tamaki, that's not like you." Kyoya said, then immediately wished he could call the words back as he saw the fleeting shadow that darkened his friend's features before Tamaki fixed his customary smile back in place.

'_Of course he's here early you idiot! He's hardly going to spend any more time than is necessary in a house where no-one even talks to him unless they absolutely have to_.'

But Tamaki merely grinned at him in self-satisfaction, "Well, Grandmother said that I was only to leave the house to attend school and then come straight back. But she never set a limit on how early I could leave, so here I am!"

Kyoya smirked back at him, but resolved to try to come to school earlier each morning, so that his friend wouldn't have to hang around the school grounds alone. Although looking at the admiring glances that numerous girls and even some of the boys were throwing at his friend, he doubted the blond would have been lonesome for long.

"Anyway, it's far too nice a day to laze around at home," Tamaki continued cheerfully as he grabbed Kyoya's arm and dragged him up the steps to the school entrance. "And now that you're here, we can grab a coffee in the dining hall and go sit in the garden, and you can tell me everything that has been going on, I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, even though we see each other every school day and…Oh and you can help me study for the physics exam, you're better at it than I am, I still haven't gotten my head around that last class..." Still talking a mile a minute Tamaki pulled Kyoya through the main doors of the academy and down the hallway.

Kyoya sighed throwing a wistful glance back at the school steps as he gave up any hope of seeing Haruhi before class began.

'_Nevermind, I can always catch up with her during lunch hour.'_

He managed to increase his pace so that he was walking beside Tamaki instead of being pulled along in his wake, but the other boy still maintained his grip on Kyoya's arm, and despite his usual reluctance to being a subject of Tamaki's overly physical affection, Kyoya didn't pull away. Tamaki had been through a lot over the past few weeks, being cooped up in a less than welcoming house with no one to talk to was obviously wearing on him. He clearly needed an outlet for his pent up energy and Kyoya had just resigned himself to being subjected to a half hour of Tamaki's incessant chatter when he noticed that the blond had suddenly fallen silent.

Kyoya paused glancing up to see Tamaki waving wildly to someone further down the corridor and turned to look in that direction. The twins were walking up the hallway deep in discussion, not noticing the blond who was making his way towards them still waving like a demented prince greeting his subjects.

"Hikaru! Kaoru!" Tamaki called excitedly.

Kyoya watched as the twins stilled, breaking off their intense conversation and looking up at the approaching blond in surprise.

_'Strange, everyone seems to have come in early today.'_

He found himself looking around the corridor, almost expecting to see Honey and Mori bearing down on them. '_Or Haruhi_', he thought hopefully, but the hallway was empty except for the four boys. He followed Tamaki over to where the twins stood, wondering what had brought them here so early and noticing now how Hikaru seemed to pale at their approach, whereas a flush had risen over Kaoru's features as he looked from Tamaki to Hikaru and then turned his attention to picking invisible lint from his jacket sleeve.

"Hey guys!" Tamaki cried sunnily.

"Hey." The twins mumbled in unison.

"Well, aren't we all the epitome of enthusiastic Ouran student's to be here so early." Kyoya said a hint of question in his voice.

But the Hitachiin's didn't take the bait, merely nodding in agreement. Hikaru was looking from Tamaki to Kyoya and back again as if waiting for something, but Kaoru didn't look up, still picking at his sleeve with such concentration that Kyoya expected to see the fabric reduced to frayed threads at any moment.

"So, how are you guys doing?" Tamaki asked enthusiastically.

"Fine." Again the twins spoke in tandem, and then almost as an afterthought Hikaru added, "How about you?"

"I'm good." Tamaki replied smiling, but Kyoya remained silent regarding the twins curiously, wondering at their strange behaviour.

Tamaki glanced from one twin to another, the cheerfulness falling from his face as the strange tension between them grew.

"Listen guy's, I'm sor…" Tamaki began, but Hikaru interrupted suddenly.

"Hey, sorry guys but we have to go, no time for chatting this morning! Kaoru is going to help me with some French homework, we have an exam, and you know how hopeless I am at it. I really want to keep my grades up so…." Hikaru cut in, taking a step away.

"Oh! If it's French homework I could help you!" Tamaki interrupted enthusiastically, and Kyoya watched as Hikaru winced slightly.

"No that's ok," The twin replied quickly, "Kaoru has notes made out and everything, we'll be fine." Hikaru reached for his brother's hand and pulled him swiftly away down the corridor. "We'll catch you guys later!" he called back over his shoulder, leaving Tamaki and Kyoya staring after them.

"Huh," Tamaki sighed dejectedly, as he watched them hurry away, "guess they're still mad at me for what happened with the club."

"No, I'm sure they understand. They know you wouldn't give up on the host club unless you had to." Kyoya replied softly.

"But it's _my_ fault it ended; it's _my_ Grandmother and Father who broke the club up." Tamaki said sadly.

Kyoya slung an arm around his friends shoulder, "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll get over it! Let's grab that coffee, and I'll talk you through those Physics theorems."

Tamaki nodded slowly in agreement, allowing himself to be dragged away, and they made their way to the dining hall but Kyoya couldn't resist casting a curious backwards glance at the twins retreating forms as they turned a corner, and found himself wondering what they were up to.

**Hikaru and Kaoru**

The twins rounded the corner and came to a stop, pressing their backs against the wall as the released a simultaneous sigh of relief.

"That was close." Kaoru muttered and Hikaru nodded in agreement, peeking around the corner to see if the other two ex-hosts were gone. They were, and he turned to face his twin once more.

"For a second there I thought they knew." Hikaru said rubbing the back of his neck as the tension left him.

"Would it be so bad if they did?" Kaoru asked, pushing himself upright to face his brother.

"Kyoya? Probably not." Hikaru muttered, "You know how he is, he wouldn't get involved unless it benefited him in some way, and since the host club is done and Haruhi's debt is paid, he wouldn't care. But Tamaki would try to talk her out of it; and this is Hauhi's choice, so we keep the secret until she shows up and … and…"

"And all hell breaks loose?" Kaoru finished laconically.

Hikaru slumped back against the wall again. "Yeah, something like that."

"Well at least they didn't catch on." Kaoru said in a brittle voice.

"Yeah; but no thanks to you!" Hikaru replied sullenly, "What was up with you? You just left me hanging there, staring at your sleeve like it was the centre of the universe and leaving me to deal with them. I thought we had a plan?" He stared angrily at his other half, wondering what the hell had happened.

"I'm sorry, I just…I…I couldn't lie to them." Kaoru finished lamely.

Hikaru stared at him incredulously, "We weren't lying to them, it's not like they were asking "Hey, is Haruhi planning on turning up dressed as a girl today?""

"I know! You're right about Kyoya, but I can't help thinking how hurt Tamaki will be when…" Kaoru began,

"Hey! _I_ never wanted this; _you_ were the one that said I should respect her decision." Hikaru interrupted, his face lighting up in anger, "I didn't want her to do it, but if this is what she wants, then I am going to help her. I thought you were on board with it?" He asked furiously.

Kaoru muttered something under his breath.

"What was that?" Hikaru asked darkly.

"I said, of course I am. She's my friend and if this is what she wants then I'll be there for her." Kaoru replied angrily, "But maybe you shouldn't forget that it was Tamaki that tried time and time again to get to know us. He was the one that got us to join the host club and see that there was a world outside the little one we made for ourselves, so you'll just have to forgive me if I feel bad for deceiving him."

The twins stood there glaring heatedly at one another. Then Kaoru slumped, looking at Hikaru apologetically, "Sorry, I guess I'm just nervous."

Hikaru shook his head, his face lined in worry. "That's not it Kaoru. You've been acting strangely for weeks. I used to know exactly what was on your mind, but now you just shut down, you barely talk to me at all anymore."

Kaoru flinched at the accusation his skin growing pale and Hikaru leaned in wrapping his arms around his twin, "Please? Please tell me what's wrong? I worry about you."

Kaoru sighed; resting his head on his brothers shoulder, feeling the weeks, no, months of pent up anxiety that had weighed on him begin to drift away. Of course he could tell his brother how he felt, he could come clean about what had been preying on his mind. He took a deep breath and leaned back to look his twin in the eyes as his hand came up to rest on his brother's shoulder. "Hikaru, I.."

_Beep. Beep. Beep_…. Both twins jerked away, looking down at their watches; they had set them to alarm when Haruhi's train was due to arrive.

"We still have a few minutes before she gets here Kaoru," Hikaru grasped his brother's hand. "Tell me what's bothering you."

But his twin pulled away smiling, "We have plenty of time for that, I'll tell you later." Hikaru glared at him disbelievingly, and Kaoru grinned even wider, "I promise, it's nothing important, but now I want to make sure I don't miss Haruhi's grand entrance!"

Hikaru grinned back at him trustingly, "Ok, let's go!" He turned and made his way to the main door, not seeing how his brother's grin melted away and his mirror image became one of doubt and anxiety, before Kaoru shook it off putting a reassuring smile in place as he moved to greet Haruhi. Today was her day, his problems could wait.

**Haruhi**

Haruhi stood at the gates of the Ouran Academy looking up at the buildings that had been her school for over a year and found herself feeling even more nervous than she had the first day she had ever walked this path. She waited at the entrance, trying to work up the nerve to step past the gates, watching the expensive cars as they passed by her, making their way up the school's driveway, each moment that passed making her feel more and more inadequate to the task.

Her heartbeat pounded hollowly within her chest, her breathing became shallow and her limbs felt like jelly, she leaned against the wall, wondering how the hell she had thought she could do this. The journey from the train station to the school gates had taken only a few minutes, but now that she was here, she found herself clinging to the wall, unwilling to take another step. The gentle spring breeze flowed around her, bringing the soothing scent of sakura blossoms to her senses and a few of the petals from a nearby tree came to rest in her hair. But it did nothing to calm her, and she remained standing there, frozen.

If she moved forward, her world would fall apart, everyone would turn on her, she would lose her scholarship, the friendships she had made, she would be ostracised and vilified.

She should just turn around and go home.

Then suddenly she laughed.

The first time she had been here, she had been a poor scholarship student. She had known without a doubt that she would never fit in at this most prestigious of schools. And yet here she was over a year later, friends with some of the most influential boys in the school. She had proved herself wrong then, and she would do it again.

If she had been able to walk up this path a year ago, dressed abominably, her hair cut awfully short, and without a friend in the place, surely she could do it now when she knew that there were at least two friends waiting at the end of the path for her.

Heart still pounding, she took a step forward, feeling the cool spring air flow around her, cooling her legs and making her ever more aware of the dress she wore instead of the boys trousers she was used to. Another step and the breeze flowed over her neck and arms where the blazer would have covered her before. Each step she took felt like treading though deep water, a journey that should have taken minutes seemed like a lifetime away. But then she looked up, and there were the twins standing on the steps of the entrance waving at her, and in the time between thoughts she had joined them.

"Hey." She sighed.

But they didn't reply for a moment, they merely stared at her, Hikaru flushed as a smile reached his lips, but Kaoru grinned outright, then grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.

"You look great." He whispered in her ear.

She saw Hikaru scowl for a moment, and she reached for him, pulling the other twin into the embrace, she felt his arm wrap around her, and found herself leaning forward resting her head on both the twins shoulders as she whispered.

"Thank you for this!" She leaned back looking them both in the eyes as best she could, "I mean it. Thank you, I don't know if I could have walked up here if I didn't know you were waiting for me."

She placed a gentle kiss on each of their cheeks and then stepped back from their embrace, she stood for a moment looking around her, noticing that a few of the other students were looking at their huddle questioningly, grouping together and muttering as they glanced at them. She turned back to her friends.

"Hmmm, I think we're garnering a little more attention than I planned for." She said quietly.

Kaoru looked at her smiling sadly, "I think you need to prepare for more than just curious looks," he rested a hand on her shoulder, "this is going to be hard Haruhi, are you sure you're ready? You could just go home and we could play it off as a joke, but once you step through those doors…."

"…All bets are off," continued Hikaru, staring at her intently. "We don't know how people will react."

"No-one else knows?" Haruhi asked quietly.

"No" Kaoru replied. "We ran into Tamaki and Kyoya earlier…." Both twins noticed how Haruhi had paled at that news and rushed to reassure her. "….but we didn't tell them anything, and they didn't seem to suspect….I think you're in the clear!"

"Great!" she replied enthusiastically, desperately trying to hide her trepidation. "Now all I have to do is….. announce to the world that I've been lying to them for over a year…" Her voice trailed off as the enormity of the situation hit her once more.

"_Lying_ is such a strong word." Kaoru said lightly as he turned her to face the entrance, crooking his arm and looping her hand through it in a sardonic gentlemanly fashion.

"Yeah," added Hikaru, matching his twins action, so that her other arm was linked though his, and they moved forward as a group walking through the main doorway. "It's not like you ever said you were a boy…. You just implied it."

"_Implied_ it for over a year." Haruhi muttered desolately.

"True, but you never _lied_..." Kaoru said determinedly. But then he looked sideways at her as they continued down the hallway leading to the gardens that made up the centre of the Ouran Academy grounds. "Seriously though, what are you planning to say when people ask why you did it?"

"Honestly, I have no idea." She replied, "The truth is probably the best bet," and when she saw the twins look at her in consternation, she added "well at least some form of the truth….."

The hallway that had seemed so quite before suddenly seemed to echo with voices and she looked away from the twins, looking down the corridor and a myriad of faces stared back at her. Suddenly she could hear parts of the whispered conversations that were going on around her.

"_Isn't that Haruhi?"_

"_Why is he dressed as a girl? Is it a host club event?"_

"_Ooh is the host club getting back together? I miss Tamaki!"_

"_I always thought he would look cute in a dress!"_

"_Ooh, who did his hair, it's so cute."_

"_Maybe he lost a bet and had to dress as a girl."_

The few students that lined the hallway seemed to all be looking at her and their eyes were following each footstep she took. Her skin heated under their scrutiny until the twins led her into the quiet garden.

_"Aaaaaahhhhh!" _

The scream made Haruhi recoil, but suddenly she was pulled from the twins grasp, her face was gripped in two warm hands and suddenly Renge's face filled her vision.

"_So cute!" _the other girl breathed, as Haruhi tried to pull herself away.

The twins stepped forward, but Renge had already spun Haruhi out of their reach.

"This uniform is _so_ cute on you!" she gasped, twirling her around before grasping her arms and then staring at Haruhi. "Are you experimenting with cross-dressing like your father?" she asked excitedly.

Haruhi pulled away, holding Renge at arm's length. "Not exactly," she replied breathlessly, trying to steady her heart after such an unexpected assault. "Renge….the thing is…. I _am_ a girl."

Renge stared at her for a moment grinning, then the grin faded to a smile, and then the smile faded entirely. Renge's hands left Haruhi's arms and suddenly landed on her chest, feeling Haruhi's breasts experimentally.

Haruhi yelped and leapt backwards at the same time that Renge whispered "_Oh_."

The two girls stared at each other, the silence growing, Haruhi waiting for Renge's accusations to fall. But then Renge reached out and pulled Haruhi into her embrace.

"This is so great!" She cried joyously, spinning them both around. "I've finally made a girl friend who's into weird stuff like me!"

Haruhi pulled herself from the other girls grasp, unable to hold back the grin that came to her face as she realised that at least one of the other students here didn't hate her for the secrets she had kept. Even if that person was Renge, who seemed unfazed by anything. Ever.

As the two girls stood there staring at each other grinning inanely, Haruhi heard a gasp, her eyes turned to the twins, but they seemed to be looking beyond her, their faces slack with shock, and a chill crept over her. She turned slowly and saw a familiar blond form hurrying away around a corner, but then her eyes lighted on a dark-haired figure standing before a bench on the edge of the garden. As she looked at him, he seemed to stare back, but the early morning sunshine cast a glare on the glasses he wore and she couldn't meet his gaze, but could sense those intense grey eyes fixed on her.

The smile slid from her face as Kyoya took a step towards her.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6: Revelation

**AN: ****As always, I don't own Ouran or its characters. And, as always please review or PM if you liked/hated the chapter, constructive criticism is always welcome.**

**Chapter 6: Revelation.**

Kyoya leaned back on the bench sipping his espresso and relishing the jolt of caffeine to his system as he watched Tamaki hastily copying the physics notes that Kyoya had lent him. The blond was bent almost double over his notepad, lower lip caught between his teeth, eyes narrowed in concentration as he scribbled furiously in an effort to complete the transcription before class began. Kyoya leaned forward now and again to point out something Tamaki had copied incorrectly or to explain some complex detail of the work, but mainly just enjoyed the other's silent company and the normality of the scene after the past few chaotic days.

Finally Tamaki dropped his pen and stretched, flexing fingers that had become cramped from writing too long before reaching for his cup and taking a deep gulp of the ridiculously frothy, overly sweetened, chocolate sprinkled concoction he had ordered, that in Kyoya's opinion bore no relation to real coffee.

"Thanks," he sighed in relief, looking up and flashing Kyoya a grin as he gathered up the notes and handed them back to him before putting his own away, "I think I get it now."

"Well then, my job is done." Kyoya replied smirking, "We couldn't have your grades slipping after all. What would everyone think if the wonderful Tamaki Suoh was no longer top of our class?"

Tamaki's smile faded for an instant and he looked away, "I'm not really worried what anyone else would think, but if my Grandmother thought I was slacking off, who knows what she would do."

Kyoya glanced at his friend, watching as a faint grimace passed over Tamaki's features before he fixed a smile back in place, but to Kyoya it looked a parody of the blonds' usual cheerful grin.

"Is it really not getting any better with her?" He asked quietly.

"Oh no, it's going great. She talked to me for a whole ten minutes yesterday, and didn't insult me once; I think I really must be winning her over!" Tamaki replied in mock cheerfulness; then he sighed as he met Kyoya's eyes and shook his head despairingly.

"Then again the entire conversation only consisted of her telling me what she required of me, how she expected me to behave and how the smallest mistake I made would bring shame on her and the Suoh name. And then she made it clear, _yet again_, what the consequences of the slightest failure on my part were; especially for my mother and I...and for certain people I've been _associating_ with, that she made pretty clear she does not approve of."

Kyoya didn't need to ask who he was talking about; Tamaki only ever used that over-protective, worried tone when he spoke of Haruhi. And now, seeing his friend's normally animated face become dark and set in worried lines, Kyoya was filled with concern for his friend's predicament; how it was forcing Tamaki to abandon his old carefree lifestyle and keep Haruhi at arm's length…. this concern was swiftly followed by a wave of guilt for the strange moment that he and Haruhi had shared the night before, and even more so for the compelling dreams that had plagued his sleep, where he yearned to hold her close again, to see her smile rather than look at him with those eyes filled with disappointment, to kiss her and…

He shook his head in denial. No, he couldn't think of her like that, he _shouldn't_ think of her like that…

But he did. Even now, when he should be concerned with Tamaki's dilemma, she was that one that invaded his thoughts again and again. And in a small corner of his mind a thought echoed.

'_It was Tamaki and the others she was worried about, that she cried for last night. Not you.'_

That's right. All that emotion she showed last night was for Tamaki and the loss of the host club, not for him. He just happened to be the unfortunate ('_lucky_' his mind echoed) one to be there to comfort her as she cried, his the only arms she could fall into. He was sure that she had disregarded it the moment she left; why couldn't he do the same? He should be able to forget it, stop worrying about her and to put all these ridiculous thoughts aside. She was fine, he was sure of it. After all she had left with the twins; they would have jumped at the chance to comfort her. They were the ones best suited to reassure her, to make her smile again, not him. He tried to disregard the jolt of envy he felt at the thought that she had left him to go running to them.

'_Why wouldn't she? You are the Shadow King after all. She came to you for help and you pushed her away. She showed emotion and you…"_

Held her? Consoled her? Kyoya was still a little stunned by the realisation. As ill-suited as he was to the task; he had tried to do just that. He loathed emotional outbursts; they left him feeling wrong-footed and uncomfortable. Under normal circumstances he would endeavour to escape the situation, but last night, as he saw her tears fall, felt them seep into his shirt as she was pressed against him; he couldn't have imagined doing anything else but hold her as she wept, and try to reassure her. A small part of him suspected that she might be the only one that would have drawn that response from him, the only one that he...

He was jolted from his thoughts as he felt something brush against his arm, he looked over to see that Tamaki had leaned back on the bench coming to sit shoulder to shoulder beside him, and abruptly he felt that same wave of guilt he had felt earlier. Tamaki had been telling him of his troubles and all Kyoya could focus on was…..the very girl Tamaki was worried about. Kyoya took a hurried sip of coffee, trying to shake off his prior train of thought and focus on what Tamaki was saying.

"…I think Grandmother's gotten tired of the insults, but the veiled threats are working just fine for her. Luckily for me it was a short, very one-sided conversation, and then it was back to my room for more 'quiet time.'" Tamaki sighed again, running his fingers through his hair as he leaned back and took another sip of his coffee, then he flashed Kyoya a grin that was a little more like its old self.

"See, I'm making progress! This week, it's no insults. Maybe in another month I'll actually be allowed to eat in the main dining room. A year, and who knows, she might even speak to me in public!"

Kyoya regarded Tamaki incredulously as he described his cold new home. He had thought that his own home life was less than congenial; his father was more interested in raising heirs for his business empire than sons, and his mother was too cowed by her husband to interfere. Instead of nurturing them, Yoshio had strove to teach them how to get ahead, pitting them against each other instead of raising them together. It had taught Kyoya self-reliance, and as a boy he had quickly learned to put aside any wish for emotional comfort as he was never likely to get it from any of the Ootori clan, and his father would have viewed it as a weakness. So Kyoya had perfected his cold, detached persona and strove to earn his father's regard in the only way that was open to him; to succeed in everything he set his mind to.

He had come to thrive in that sort of environment, but now as he watched Tamaki, he couldn't imagine his boisterous, talkative and overly emotional friend existing in such a cold atmosphere, especially now that the strange little family that he and Kyoya had built together under the guise of the Host Club had been taken from him. Kyoya's gaze darkened, numerous scenarios passing through his mind as to how to save his friend from this particular predicament.

He didn't notice Tamaki gazing at him curiously until the blond laughed loudly, reaching out to poke Kyoya's cheek vigorously. "Why so serious Mother? Surely you're not worried about me?"

Kyoya swatted the hand away and was about to reply but a commotion on the opposite side of the garden caught their notice. He glanced up to see the twins standing to one side of the entrance, matching looks of amusement on their faces as they watched Renge who was squealing loudly as she twirled another girl around. Kyoya shook his head in exasperation as he watched them and was about to turn his attention back to Tamaki when Renge set the other girl back on her feet and Kyoya got his first clear look at her. He froze, his heart stilling in his chest before jolting back into an unsteady rhythm as he recognised those delicate features, at once so familiar and yet now so different.

'_Oh God, what has she done?'_

He stared at her in shock, taking in ever nuance of her new appearance. The new uniform, that clung to her slight figure highlighting every feminine curve that her previous uniform had hidden. Her hair, now softly curled, strands framing her face perfectly. The shading of make-up on her cheeks and eyelids that was so un-necessary to highlight her features that had so recently become indelibly imprinted in his mind.

Haruhi seemed flustered, attempting to keep Renge at arm's length even while the other girl babbled at her incessantly. Finally Haruhi said something that wiped the smile from Renge's face, and Kyoya felt a brief flash of amusement that quickly disappeared as Renge unexpectedly reached out and grabbed intimately at Haruhi chest. Kyoya suddenly found himself standing, feeling inexplicably angry and felt Tamaki lurch to his feet beside him; but they both remained frozen in place unable to drag their eyes away from the scene unfolding before them. Haruhi pulled back from the taller girl and stood there eying her uncertainly, then, unaccountably, they were hugging each other again and grinning. He heard Tamaki release a chocked gasp, and turned to stare at him but the blond had turned away and was quickly gathering his things, muttering to himself as he pulled his bag over his shoulder and hurried off.

Kyoya looked back to see that Haruhi's eyes were now following Tamaki's retreating form, her face set in a worried frown that caused a strange surge of jealousy to flood through him. But as her gaze swept back over the garden and lit on him, all such thoughts fled. The moment those dark eyes met his, he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that any hope he had had of ridding himself of these new thoughts and feelings for her had disappeared entirely.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that he should follow Tamaki and ensure that his friend was ok; but all he wanted to do was go to Haruhi, to talk to her. Part of him yearned to hold her again, whereas another wanted to shake the girl and ask what the hell she thought she was playing at, turning up at school like this.

He took a step towards her and saw her still at his approach. At the same moment the first school bell rang and the garden flooded with students making their way to their various classes. Kyoya should have been hurrying to his own first subject, but somehow it seemed unimportant at the moment. He moved towards her, even as she broke his gaze and turned to follow the twins and Renge back into the building. He pressed forward through the throng that had invaded the garden, brushing past the other students with scant apology, until finally he reached her, grabbed her hand and spun her around.

"Haruhi…." he breathed, the warmth of her skin under his fingers short-circuiting his senses. He fell silent as she turned her face up to look at him, his mind falling blank as those deep brown eyes met his.

_Have her eyes always been this dark, this deep?_

"Senpai?" she enquired coolly, pulling him from his thoughts.

Kyoya's eyes narrowed in displeasure the cold formality in her tone. She was obviously still upset with him, and he found that he hated the idea that she was still thinking ill of him. Yet he noted that she had not pulled her hand from his and he took some comfort in that.

"Well…" he said faltering, "you look….."

"Cute?" Kaoru and Renge chorused, and Haruhi blushed.

"Beautiful." Hikaru said softly.

Haruhi's blush deepened and Kyoya looked at Hikaru sharply, disliking the way he was staring at Haruhi with open appreciation, and annoyed that he had stolen the words from his mouth.

"…different." He finished lamely, wincing as he heard his own words and realised how ridiculous he sounded. Haruhi stared at him sceptically and an uncomfortable silence grew between them.

Renge released a high pitched giggle, "Well this is awkward!"

He turned to glare at her and she grinned brazenly back, her eyes flitting from him to Haruhi and back again. Kyoya had a sinking feeling that somehow Renge was able to see what he was thinking, was able to sense the change in his feelings, and he despaired to think what scenarios the silly girl had running through her mind now.

'_Oh for God's sake pull yourself together man! You deal with these people every day of the week. Just send them away, you're a senior, they can hardly argue….although with the way Renge is eying you, she might just…'_

He shook that thought away and keeping a firm grip on Haruhi's hand to keep her beside him, he turned to face the others, his Shadow King persona stepping to the fore as he waved them away. "I believe you have a class to get to? I just need a quick word with Haruhi, he'll join..."

Renge snorted in laughter.

"..._She'll_ join you shortly." He corrected, and fixed Renge with a dark glare.

Her grin only widened, but as he continued to stare at her, she rolled her eyes in reluctant acceptance, and offered a cheery wave as she turned and made her way into the building. Kaoru was eyeing them both bemusedly but Haruhi just shrugged and flashed him a reassuring smile, he nodded still eyeing Kyoya uncertainly, but grabbed a protesting Hikaru and pulled him away to follow Renge to class.

Haruhi watched them as they left, Hikaru's complaints echoing though the corridor till they passed from sight, then she turned to face Kyoya once more.

"Is there something important you want to discuss Senpai?" Haruhi asked her voice still coldly polite, "Otherwise I really should get to class myself."

He ignored her cold tone and smiled down at her, savouring the fact that he had her alone. Her eyes widened at his cheerful expression, and at the sight of her disbelieving stare his smile transformed to a grin that he was quite unused to wearing. He stepped back, finally letting go of her hand and immediately missed the sensation of her skin pressed against his, and the warmth it brought.

"This is quite a change." He said, gesturing at her new appearance.

"I think we've covered how _different_ I look Senpai." She sighed angrily.

"Yes, I'm afraid my usual eloquence quite escaped me at that moment." He grinned again, and then chuckled softly as she glowered at him.

'_What is it about this girl that makes me want to smile? Even now she's looking at me like she want's nothing more than for me to disappear, and I can't stop grinning like an idiot.'_

Kyoya fought to straighten his features into some semblance of seriousness, but his lips kept quirking upwards into a smirk of their own volition. "So, I gather you're still angry with me for not helping you?" he enquired facetiously.

"Angry Senpai? Why would you think that?" She asked shortly.

"It may have something to do with the fact that you've been calling me Senpai every five seconds, or possibly that you're glaring at me right now." He watched in amusement as she looked away, her eyes narrowing further in annoyance as she stared off into the distance. Then she shook her head resignedly and looked back up at him.

"I'm just confused _Kyoya-senpai,_ Tamaki is your best friend and you created the Host Club together. Yet you seem willing to stand by and do nothing, when Tamaki is obviously unhappy, and the host club is being taken away from both of you."

"No," He corrected, "I never said I was going to stand by and do nothing. I just said it wasn't _your_ problem to fix, and that you shouldn't get involved."

She eyed him speculatively, "So you _do_ have a plan to help him and get the club back?"

"No, not yet..." he began, and she huffed in annoyance,

"But I will." He continued steadily, "Unlike some people_, I _do not rush into things." He looked pointedly at her new attire.

A faint blush coloured her cheeks, and she pulled uneasily at the collar of her dress as if uncomfortable in her new clothing, but she inadvertently exposed her collarbone for a moment and his heartbeat thrummed in his ears as he watched her, his eyes following her hand and imagining brushing his lips against that exposed skin.

'_Damn it, control yourself!'_

"So why did you do it?" he asked quietly, dragging his eyes away to meet hers once more, trying to ignore how that blush was brightening her features further, and how that her hand was still playing with her collar.

Haruhi hesitated for a moment, then sighed resignedly, "I know that Tamaki's Grandmother is forcing him to do everything she says," She replied sadly, "and I know that she probably has plenty of ways to do that, but when Tamaki said it had nothing to do with me..."

"You thought it had _something_ to do with you." Kyoya finished for her.

She nodded reluctantly, "And I thought if it was my secret, then I could at least stop her from holding that over him, I could reveal the secret on my own terms."

"Well you've certainly done that." He sighed; then a thought dawned on him. "So that's why you left with the twins last night? They're the cause of this make-over?"

She looked at him curiously for a moment then nodded again. "I knew that they had taken this uniform home with the other outfits, so I called, and asked them to help. Why do you ask?"

'_So she didn't run to them for comfort.'_

He smiled and shook his head. "Nevermind, I was just wondering where you got it."

She looked at him uncertainly, as if wondering what he was thinking, but he offered no response. Then she glanced up at the tower that housed the school clock.

"I have to go; I'm really going to be late for class," she said, the faintest trace of reluctance in her tone.

"I somehow think the teacher will be a little more preoccupied with your new persona, than your tardiness." He laughed softly, but she was already turning away from him. And he found he couldn't let her go without revealing the one thought that had been foremost in his mind during their whole conversation.

He reached and grasped her hand once more, turning her to face him and smiling at her annoyance at being detained further.

"He was right you know." He uttered softly.

She stared at him questioningly. "Excuse me?"

"You do look beautiful." Then raising her hand to his lips he pressed a kiss against it, and without another word he turned and walked away.

TBC

**.**


	7. Chapter 7: A day in the life

**AN: I don't own Ouran or its characters.**

**Chapter 7: A day in the life…**

**Haruhi.**

Haruhi stood in the shadow of the doorway watching Kyoya's retreating form, her hand still tingling where his lips had pressed against it and a blush steadily climbing her cheeks as his parting words echoed in her ears.

'_What on earth was that about?' _she wondered, a bemused smile forming on her lips as she relived the moment.

'_Had Kyoya Ootori just called her beautiful? Had he really just kissed her hand?_'

She shook her head in dazed disbelief, feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over her as she realised that she was just standing there, staring after him like an idiot when she really should be getting to class. She dragged her gaze reluctantly away from the dark haired figure, eyes skimming over the garden as she turned to leave, only to still once more as she realised that numerous pairs of eyes were looking back at her. Staring back at her in fact, she noted with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

A handful of students must have been lingering in the garden or passing through as she and Kyoya-senpai had been speaking, but she had passed no remarks on them at the time; too caught up in their own quiet conversation to notice that they may have been drawing any attention. She should have known better of course, Kyoya and the other hosts had eyes on them wherever they went in Ouran and without even trying they managed to be the centre of attention.

She realised that the students that had been watching him, must have seen their quiet conversation and the kiss that culminated it and realised just as quickly that Kyoya-senpai had probably been quite aware of the fact that they had a potential audience; after all, something like that wouldn't have escaped the 'Shadow King's' notice. She gritted her teeth in annoyance at the thought, and allowed her mind to work as Kyoya-senpai's would have, and suddenly she could picture it all too clearly.

By kissing her hand in clear view of other students Kyoya-senpai had acknowledged her as a girl, and with the way the Ouran grapevine worked, the news would spread like wildfire and it would be common knowledge by lunch, so now there was no going back. In one swift move he had made sure that she would be undeniably acknowledged as a female student, as well as making her transition today a little easier. As surely, if Kyoya Ootori, one of the most powerful and popular students to grace Ouran's halls had known that Haruhi was a girl and had no problem with it, then who were the rest of them to question it.

She stood there for a moment, staring daggers at his back as he rounded the corner and out of sight, irritated at the way he had manipulated the situation. Yet she found a soft smile stealing back onto her face as she recognised Kyoya-senpai's typically underhanded way of doing something nice for someone, while appearing only to act in his own best interests. Her smile faded an instant later as she felt an unexpected flash of disappointment at the thought that it had all just been an act on his part.

'_You didn't actually think that he was interested in you, right?' _ An errant thought whispered mockingly.

'_Of course I didn't, not really,' _she tried to reassure herself, _'I was just caught off guard for a moment'_

_S_he shook her head, embarrassed by her own naiveté. He was a host after all; convincing a girl that she was the prettiest and the most delightful girl in the room was what they did. And yet, the thought that it had just been an act for the benefit of onlookers made her feel a little disappointed somehow. For a moment she had thought that she saw something in his eyes; some dark warmth that had drawn her in, reminding her of that same warmth she had fleetingly felt in his arms last night.

It must just have been her imagination, she told herself forcefully.

'_He didn't tell you that you looked beautiful for the benefit of the others though.' _her ego muttered obstinately.

No he hadn't, she realised, as she remembered his soft words that had been almost a whisper. Those words had been for her ears alone as no one else had been close enough to overhear them. Her eyes drifted back to the last point she had seen him; wondering why he had said it, after all there was no merit in it for him. She pictured that look in his eyes once more, and felt a blush rising on her cheeks, and she immediately berated herself for dwelling on something that was surely only in her imagination. Taking a deep breath to steady herself she pushed those pointless thoughts aside, she had more important things to worry about today after all.

Endeavouring to act as if nothing unusual had happened, she fixed what she had begun to think of as her host club smile firmly in place as she forced herself to meet the eyes of the few students that stood staring at her. Then, as if she hadn't a care in the world, she turned and finally made her way to class, subconsciously rubbing the hand that Kyoya had kissed with her other as she hurried along.

OoOoOo

Haruhi opened the door to the classroom gently and glanced in; some of the students were talking quietly amongst themselves, while others were flipping through their books as the teacher sorted though some notes that lay scattered on his desk. She tried to slip into the room unnoticed, but the click of the door closing betrayed her and she winced at the echoing sound.

"You're late." The teacher said irritably as he looked up, then he froze, staring at her.

"Yes, I apologise Sensei, it won't happen again." Haruhi replied steadily, eyes narrowing as she watched his gaze trail slowly down her figure, only to snap back up to meet her own once more, his eyes widening in acute disbelief as they met her annoyed gaze. Haruhi braced herself for the inevitable barrage of questions she was sure would follow, but amazingly, they didn't come. Teacher and student stared at each other for a moment, then he shook his head, muttering something under his breath, of which Haruhi only caught "….bloody teenagers today…"

He eyed her again and sighed in exasperation, "Just take your seat Fujioka."

Haruhi turned away gratefully and looked to the back of the class to where her usual seat between the Hitachiin twins sat empty and saw them enthusiastically beckoning her to join them. She smiled embarrassedly at their antics as she made her way there, trying to ignore the feeling that every eye in the class was now following her.

Pulling out her chair, she grimaced as the legs grated loudly against the floor, the sound reverberating loudly around the unusually silent room. She quickly took her seat, refusing to pull the chair forward to meet the desk, unwilling to repeat the screeching sound and draw any further attention to herself. But it was too late. She looked towards the front of the class only to be met by a sea of faces all staring directly back at her, the teacher included. She blanched under their scrutiny and ducked her head in embarrassment, willing the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

Then she heard Hikaru mutter loudly, "You'd think they'd never seen a girl before."

"I know!" Renge chimed in, her voice laden with an air of superiority, "I mean it was completely obvious she was a girl, only an idiot would have thought otherwise."

Haruhi glanced over to see Hikaru and Renge grinning at each other and then at her, she gave a small smile of thanks, even as Renge rolled her eyes as if to say '_Yes, I know I was one of those idiots too. But let me have my fun.'_

Then from her other side she heard Kaoru speak up. "Sensei, I have a question about yesterday's class, can you explain..."

And just like that, her three friends managed to turn the attention away from her, she sighed in relief as the teacher replied to Kaoru's question and the students turned away from her to focus on the class instead.

The rest of the morning passed in a blur. Three other classes followed the first, and between each one the twins and Renge would surround her desk in an almost defensive ring, chatting and laughing amongst themselves and drawing Haruhi into it as if it was a perfectly ordinary day, yet shielding her from all but the most determined prying eyes. She caught one or two of the derisive comments cast back at her by some of the more troublesome students, but while she studiously ignored them, the twin's quick wit and Renge's sharp tongue soon put an end to it all. And obviously the teacher's grapevine was as voracious as the student's, as each subsequent teacher only gave her the briefest of curious glances, before carrying on with class as normal.

And slowly as the hours passed, Haruhi began to relax, wondering if today might not be quite as nightmarish as she had thought.

**Kyoya**

Kyoya imagined that he could feel Haruhi watching him as he walked away from her. Part of him wanted to turn, to see if those dark brown eyes were truly fixed on him, or if it was just wishful thinking on his part. But he forced himself to walk nonchalantly until he had rounded the corner, then he stopped and leaned back against the wall for a moment, sighing as he shook his head at his own impulsiveness. For once in his life he had done something without thinking it through, without weighing the benefits or consequences of his actions, yet he found that he couldn't bring himself to regret it.

When he had first seen Haruhi that morning, he had been overcome with a myriad of conflicting feelings; shock that she would have done something so drastic, although, even he had to admit that she looked wonderful. Anger at the way she was being man-handled by Renge quickly followed by concern for what she would face today; how would she handle the other student's stares, comments or ridicule? But strongest, was the surprising and barely contained jealousy that flared in him as he saw the way that Hikaru was looking at her, and they way she blushed at the twin's flattery. Well, Kyoya was nothing if not competitive...

A soft smile reached his lips as he replayed the incredulous look on her face at his own quiet compliment, and the dark blush that had coloured her features as he had kissed her hand. He could only imagine the reactions of the others that had been loitering around the garden, as his eyes had only been focused on her, until he had forced himself to walk away.

Well, it would certainly have set the rumour mill turning, and what better way to spread the word of Haruhi's transformation, than to resort to the most basic of host club tactics, a chivalrous kiss for the newly unveiled 'Princess'. Kyoya found his smile widening as he imagined how Haruhi would hate being thought of as one of the vacuous princesses that the host club had entertained. But then, that was what made her so different to every other girl that came here; she had never wanted or tried to fit in, and yet she had become an integral part of their little group.

He had always admired her intelligence and focus; and he could even admit that he had noticed her attractiveness in an abstract way. But now that he truly saw her; not just the patient, efficient, clever, winning and compassionate Haruhi that everyone else saw in the host club; but the passionate, angry, determined girl he had seen last night; and the resolute, self-contained girl that had appeared at school today; he found himself drawn to her, and compelled to find out what other facets lay hidden beneath Haruhi's calm exterior.

'_How so much has changed in the space of a day.'_ He thought wryly, as he pushed himself away from the wall and strolled towards his third form classroom; already wondering how he could arrange to have another conversation with Haruhi today. He pushed open the classroom door, barely acknowledging the teacher's reprimand for being late as various scenarios ran through his head, only to stop short as his eyes lit on Tamaki's troubled face.

Guilt flooded through him as he realised that although he had spent almost an hour listening to Tamaki's issues and worries earlier, his friend hadn't crossed his mind once since Kyoya had laid eyes on Haruhi that morning. Tamaki seemed completely lost in his own thoughts, but Kyoya could see the worry etched on his friend's features and it was easy to guess where his thoughts lay and who the cause of that worry was. He had always known that Tamaki cared for Haruhi, had suspected that it may go even deeper than that; they all had. It had been a subject of speculation and amusement amongst the other hosts, but suddenly Kyoya didn't find it quite as humorous anymore. Not when his own feelings seemed to be drawing him to Haruhi too.

He made his way slowly to his seat, watching as Tamaki frowned at a pen he was twirling through his fingers, but the blond didn't seem to notice Kyoya's arrival or the fact that there was a blank physics exam lying before him. Kyoya sat and pulled his own exam towards him and retrieved a pen from his bag, all the while watching Tamaki from the corner of his eye.

He waited until the teacher had turned away to scrawl something on the whiteboard, before reaching out and waving his pen under Tamaki's nose, causing the blond to startle. Kyoya met his friends questioning gaze, tapped his pen on his exam sheet pointedly and gave his friend a nudge to get started. Tamaki stared at the pages in front of him for a moment as if they had somehow appeared out of thin air, then rubbed his eyes and flashed Kyoya a grateful smile as he opened his own answer sheet and started scanning the questions.

Kyoya watched him for a moment longer, before turning back to his own exam. He began writing the answers automatically at first, but then became steadily distracted by thoughts of Haruhi, followed by flashes of guilt as he recalled Tamaki's worried expression, only for Haruhi to intrude on his thoughts once more. He dropped his pen in annoyance and reached under his glasses to rub his eyes, silently berating himself for his inability to concentrate, and his selfishness for thinking that way about a girl that his best friend obviously cared deeply about.

Tamaki truly was his best friend and that was something that Kyoya did not take lightly, and he would never intentionally hurt him. He glanced over at the blond who was busily filling in his answer sheet, and realised that no matter how much he may want to talk to Haruhi, no matter how intrigued by her he had become, he should keep his distance. He couldn't allow himself to be interested in her, Tamaki deserved better than that.

'_Just stop thinking about her,'_ he thought determinedly, picking up his pen once more. _'She was only a friend until yesterday, and you'll just have to go back to that. Nothing has changed.'_

But somehow Kyoya knew that wasn't quite true.

**Hikaru & Haruhi**

When lunch hour came, Hikaru watched as Haruhi pulled out an obento, obviously planning on remaining in the classroom for her lunch as she normally did. He shook his head at her in disbelief, as he grabbed it and held it out of her reach.

"Give it back Hikaru." Haruhi demanded impatiently.

"No, I don't think so. You're joining us for lunch today." He replied, tossing the box to his brother as Haruhi made a lunge for it. "Isn't that right Kaoru?"

"Absolutely!" Kaoru replied, smiling broadly as Haruhi glared at him, "We're not leaving a defenceless maiden to eat alone in a classroom on the day of her big debut."

"Guys, I am not going to the dining hall with you, I think I've had quite enough staring for one day. Besides, I didn't bring any money with me today, not that I'd waste it there anyway." Haruhi reached out her hand to Kaoru, curling her fingers repeatedly in a demanding gesture. "Thanks for your concern, but I'll be fine here, so just hand it over."

Kaoru placed the box behind his back and shook his head in mock sadness. "I'm afraid I can't do that Haruhi. We want to have lunch with you today, so just come with us okay? It's our treat!" His voice took on a wheedling tone as he added, "It's the least you can do after all the help we gave you last night."

Haruhi eyed them both suspiciously, but they just smiled hopefully back at her with a determined glint in their eyes. They watched as Haruhi looked from one to the other and saw the realisation set in that they weren't going to back down. It also helped that Renge was standing nearby with a huge smile on her face as she jumped up and down, egging them on.

"Fine," Haruhi sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat even as she fixed each one of them with a dark glare, saving the severest for Kaoru as if she had expected better from him, but he just grinned insolently back at her. Renge squealed in delight, spinning round to dash from the room, calling back over her shoulder that she would grab them a table.

Kaoru shook his head exasperatedly as he went after her, "Renge wait! You don't have to..."

Haruhi looked at Hikaru questioningly as his twin left, but he just shrugged with a mischievous smile as he gestured to the door and gave an exaggerated bow, "Ladies first!"

She rolled her eyes at him again, but preceded him out the door into the now deserted hallway. As he joined her she asked, "What's going on Hikaru? Why are you all so determined for me to go to lunch with you?"

"What do you mean? Is it so wrong for us to want to have lunch with our friend?" he asked with a tone of injured innocence, but was not quite able to keep the playful grin from his face.

"Fine, you can have your secrets, but if I don't like whatever you guys have up your sleeves, I'm leaving." Haruhi replied laughing softly, "I may have promised to go to lunch with you lot, but I never promised how long I'd stay."

He watched her for a moment, mesmerised by the sound of her laughter, and how her eyes shone with amusement. Then he realised that she had obviously been expecting some retort to what she had said; but he was just staring at her and now she was looking back at him questioningly.

"What?" She asked, puzzled by the way he was watching her so intently; she reached up patting at her cheeks tentatively, "Have I something on my face?"

"No, you're fine!" he answered quickly and then laughed embarrassedly, "I mean... you look great!"

She looked away slightly, a faint blush forming on her cheeks, "You guys have to stop complimenting me, or else I'll end up as vain as some of the host club guests we've had to deal with."

"I doubt that you'd ever end up like that, you're not really like them." He replied seriously, and froze as she eyed him uncertainly.

"I meant it as a compliment!" he said hurriedly, then grinned. "You're too nice to become conceited."

"And I'd always have you to bring me back down to earth, right?" She said smiling.

"Of course," he assured her, and then offered her his arm. "Now, come on or we'll be late." She shook her head at his gentlemanly behaviour, but took his arm as he led her into the dining hall.

OoOoOo

The moment they entered, Haruhi began scanning the dining hall hoping to see Renge or Kaoru somewhere nearby, but was distracted by a gaggle of smiling girls that were coming towards them, some of whom she recognised from the host club. She turned to step out of their way, only to be flanked on the other side by another group of girls that had seemingly appeared from nowhere. She cast a questioning look at Hikaru only to find that he looked just as astonished as she felt.

She eyed the girls warily for a moment as they closed in on her, and then finally tried to back away, only to find that she and Hikaru were now surrounded. Then the veritable army of girls all seemed to start speaking at once, as they pelted her endless questions, interspersed with compliments and jokes, but it quickly just became a wall of noise as Haruhi stood there trying to make sense of it all. She lost her grip on Hikaru as they were jostled by some of the more enthusiastic of the girls, and she spun around to look for him but was now encircled by a ring of chattering faces. She tried to focus on their questions, but there were too many coming all at once and she held up her hands to ward them off, or ask them to stop, but with no success.

Then suddenly she felt herself pulled up and away from the group and gasped at the suddenness of the motion, her stomach swooping as her feet left the ground and she was gathered into a pair of strong arms. She clutched at a set of somewhat familiar broad shoulders as she was carried away from the beleaguering group to a table at the back of the room, leaving a wave of complaining voices behind them.

When she was placed back on her feet, she looked up, smiling at her rescuer. "Hey Mori-senpai! Thanks for the help."

"No problem." He replied, as succinct as ever as he stared disapprovingly over at the group of girls that were now staring mutinously back, but they seemed unwilling to come any nearer for now, and Haruhi heaved a sigh of relief. Hikaru finally made his way over to re-join them, offering Haruhi an apologetic shrug for the unexpected inquisition as he too eyed the girls with annoyance.

"Haru-chan!" a familiar voice called and Haruhi turned as a small blond streak flew towards her and leaped up to hug her.

"Hey Honey-senpai." She greeted him, slightly choked by the vice-like grip around her neck.

"Hikaru and Kaoru called us this morning to tell us about your big secret, and asked us to come for lunch today. Are you surprised?" he asked as he let her go and looked up at her grinning.

"I certainly am!" she said, eyeing the twins who were now looking exceptionally smug; she flashed them a wry grin before returning her attention to Honey. "Have you been here long?"

"Not very long; but Takashi wouldn't let me have cake until _you_ got here." He replied glumly.

"We'll I'm here now, so let's eat!" she replied, and laughed gently as his downtrodden expression changed to a beaming smile.

**Kyoya & Tamaki**

As Kyoya and Tamaki came into the dining hall their eyes were automatically drawn to the raucous group sitting at the back who were chatting and laughing amongst themselves, seemingly unaware of the stares they were drawing. Kyoya turned to his friend expecting him to be excited at the prospect of joining them, but Tamaki merely watched them with a sad smile and then turned to make his way to a free table on the opposite side of the room, Kyoya sighed as he moved to join him.

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind if we sat with them." Kyoya said quietly, disconcerted with Tamaki's subdued behaviour which had lasted throughout the morning.

"I know," Tamaki replied quickly, "It's just Grandmother wouldn't..."

"Oh for god sake Tamaki, how would she even know who you ate lunch with?" Kyoya asked irritably as he sat and flipped open a menu.

"You'd be surprised, she seems to know everything!" Tamaki said with a mock shudder, before turning to grin at the dark haired boy and reaching out to clutch his arm melodramatically. "Why Kyoya? Are you sick of me already?"

"Definitely," Kyoya retorted sardonically as he scanned the menu; but his eyes drifted over the top of it, drawn to where Haruhi sat amongst the others, laughing softly at something that Honey was saying. His gaze followed her hand as it played with a stray lock of hair, before brushing it back behind her ear, and his fingers itched to comb through those locks once more, like they had last night.

"Well I know what I want, how about you?" Tamaki asked suddenly and Kyoya pulled his gaze away from Haruhi guiltily, worried that his friend had read his thoughts, but the blond had just looked up from the menu and was now talking to a waiter that had appeared beside them. Kyoya pointed at a random item on the menu before snapping it shut and handing it to the waiter too.

As they waited for their food, Kyoya watched as Tamaki's attention drifted repeatedly to their friends that sat on the far side of the room, then away again as he toyed with his napkin.

"She seems happy." Tamaki said suddenly and Kyoya glanced at him, but his friend's eyes were fixed on Haruhi and he followed Tamaki's gaze there.

She was laughing again, this time at something that Hikaru was doing. Kyoya watched as the twin plucked something from a plate with a pair of chopsticks and then proceeded to wave it in front of her. They were both laughing, and jealousy roiled through Kyoya as he watched her grasp Hikaru's hand and bring the morsel clasped between the chopsticks to her mouth and devour it. Her eyes, still full of laughter flicked up to meet his and they both froze, staring at each other before Haruhi blushed and looked down and began toying with her food. Kyoya pulled his gaze resolutely away again realising that Tamaki was watching them.

"Yeah, she does." He replied quietly, trying to keep the envy from his voice. The waiter arrived back with their food and silence fell between them as they began to eat.

"I'm glad." Tamaki said finally, "I was worried that people would give her a hard time today. But she has the twins and Renge looking out for her, and I'm happy that Mori and Honey came to support her today."

Kyoya eyed him curiously, "Don't you want to support her too?"

"Of course I do! As long as this is what she wants," Tamaki replied quickly as he glanced back over at their friends, but his eyes darkened with concern as he watched her. "I'm just worried that she did this because of me, or the host club."

"No! I'm sure…" Kyoya began, but paused as Tamaki looked at him sceptically. He sighed realising that Tamaki had always been able to see right through him and that it was pointless to lie.

"I spoke to Haruhi this morning," He began again and Tamaki stared at him intently, "she was concerned that your Grandmother was using the fact that she had been pretending to be a boy for the past year against you, or using it to keep the host club disbanded."

Kyoya shrugged as he heard Tamaki inhale sharply at the news, "I tried to tell her that it wasn't her problem, but she's determined to try to help in any way she can."

Tamaki turned his gaze on Haruhi once again with a proud smile, "That's so like my daughter to be worried for others."

Kyoya sighed in exasperation, "You act like an idiot sometimes Tamaki, but you and I both know that you're not half as oblivious as you let on. She's not your daughter, and you don't have the 'Host Club Family' to hide behind anymore. Why can't you just admit that you care about her?" He asked angrily.

Tamaki looked over at Kyoya in surprise, "Of course I care about her. I care about all my friends."

"She's just a friend?" Kyoya asked disbelievingly, "So it doesn't bother you that there are a lot of guys here checking her out, or that Hikaru has been flirting with her for the past twenty minutes?"

Tamaki looked up in shock, casting his eyes around the room and noticing for the first time that a number of the male students seemed unduly interested in what was happening at Haruhi's table. Then his gaze zeroed in on Hikaru, who seemed to be regaling Haruhi with a story that had the girl almost doubled over in laughter. His eyes narrowed and he turned back to Kyoya.

"I don't want Hikaru flirting with Haruhi, he's a bad influence." Tamaki said quickly.

"No he's not, and you know that. Besides, he's a friend too, right?" Kyoya asked snidely, "Surely you don't mind if he's interested in her, unless you are too?"

Tamaki looked at Kyoya, surprised at the sharp edge in his friends tone. He glanced back at Haruhi, then looked back at Kyoya his face reddening under his friends scrutiny.

"Kyoya, I…" Tamaki paused gathering his nerve, "Kyoya, I don't feel that way about…"

"Tama-Chan!" a voice called loudly from the opposite side of the dining hall, interrupting him. Tamaki looked up to see Honey waving wildly at them and gesturing for Tamaki and Kyoya to join them at the larger table. Tamaki smiled back at the small blond and shook his head, gesturing that he and Kyoya were fine where they were. But Honey jumped down from the chair he was standing on and began making his way over to them.

"Kyoya, can I ask a favour?" Tamaki asked quickly as the smaller blond made his way through the crowded dining hall, Kyoya looked back at him in surprise before nodding. "Can you check in on Haruhi from time to time?"

Kyoya looked back at him in consternation, "Tamaki, Haruhi is fine! She doesn't need anybody checking up on her…"

"Please Kyoya?" Tamaki pleaded, "It would make me feel better. After all, it's our fault she got dragged into the host club, and had to go through all this. I just want to make sure she's doing okay."

Kyoya eyed his friend for a moment, desperately seeking a way to refuse even though part of him yearned to do just as Tamaki had asked. "Fine," he replied eventually, "Is there some message you want me to pass on?"

"No, I just want to know she's okay." Tamaki said cheerfully, "Thanks Kyoya, I really appreciate it."

"It's fine" Kyoya replied, rolling his eyes at his friend, "It's not like I have anything better to do."

'_Or anything I'd rather do'_ he added silently.

"And maybe you could come to school early on Monday, fill me in on how she's really doing?" Tamaki asked, then looked away as he added, "And there's something I need to talk to you about, but it can wait till then."

Kyoya looked at him questioningly but Tamaki waved it away, smiling as Honey finally reached them and the two blonds started chatting as Kyoya sat in silence.

**Renge**

Renge gave Haruhi one final enthusiastic hug goodbye, eliciting another promise that they would meet the next day. Then she stepped into the back of her town car and made herself comfortable as her driver pulled away from the school entrance to take her home. She searched in her bag for a moment before retrieving her tablet and opening it to the diary app, and began typing rapidly, a wide smile on her face.

Friday, April 19th

Exciting day today!

It turns out that Haruhi is a girl, and a cute one too! Now that I've seen her in her new uniform I don't know how I missed it all along. Perhaps I've been spending too much time writing moè stories about them all, to realise that they might actually be _more_ interesting in real life? Note to self: Must be more observant!

Well whatever... if this is what Haruhi has been hiding, who knows what exciting secrets the others might be keeping! Although with the way some of the boys were looking at her today, maybe their secrets aren't actually _that_ secret. The way the hosts have been acting, it's obvious that they have known all along that she was a girl, and now that it's out in the open I guess they don't have to hide their interest anymore. Kyoya's reaction was especially interesting; I thought I would be jealous if I saw him pay attention to another girl, but I wasn't, so yay me!

But he has competition! Mainly Hikaru, honestly, he couldn't keep his eyes off Haruhi, I found it kind of annoying actually. Tamaki kept his distance, which was odd, considering how close he and Haruhi have been in the past. Maybe Kaoru can find out why, he certainly seemed to be really concerned about Tamaki at lunch, and a little upset that he sat elsewhere…Ooohh…I wonder….

It will be great having Haruhi as a girlfriend though; think of all the shopping we can do! I get the impression that her wardrobe could do with a serious make over, and who better than me to help her with that... Although I have to give the twins their due, they haven't done _too_ badly with her makeover so far, but now it's time for a true professional to step in.

Speaking of which, I wonder if she has a dress for the spring masquerade ball… I must ask her tomorrow. I wonder who'll ask me… oh never mind that… I wonder who _she'll_ go with. I don't think she'll lack for people asking her. Hmmm, this could get very interesting indeed!

Renge finished typing and snapped the tablet cover shut, hugging it close to her chest as she grinned.

**Haruhi**

Haruhi stepped off the train into a light spring rain and again cursed her new uniform that didn't shield her arms from the spattering rain, or her legs from the splashes of cars that seemed to purposely run into puddles just to spite her. She trudged down the street, tiredness washing over her and a headache setting in. She was looking forward to the comfort of her own home and for the longest day of her life to be finally over.

She had spent the day ignoring the stares and comments of the other students, worrying about Tamaki, trying to reassure the twin's and Renge that she was fine; she had even spent most of her lunch hour trying to act as if she hadn't a care in the world in an effort to stop Honey and Mori staring at her like she had lost her mind. And she spent the rest of the day, trying _not_ to think about Kyoya-senpai and his actions that morning. The whole day had left her drained and confused, and now all she wanted was a hot bath and her bed. Monday would be easier, she hoped. People would surely have gotten over the novelty of her new appearance by then.

She finally reached her apartment complex, shivering now that her clothes were almost soaked through from the persistent rain. She climbed the steps and reached her door; she could hear her father's voice within and wondered who he was speaking to. Shrugging it off, she searched for her key and opened the door.

Softly spoken voices reached her as she eased the apartment door closed behind her, she made her way down the narrow corridor and peeked into the kitchen and then sighed dejectedly. There, sitting at her table, drinking her coffee, with her father was one of the main causes of her headache.

Kyoya Ootori looked up as he heard her sigh, then turned to her father, smiling as he said, "Speak of the devil..."

TBC


	8. Chapter 8: A Few Home Truths & Omissions

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran or its characters.**

**Chapter 8: A Few Home Truths and Omissions.**

Haruhi stood in the hallway, barely noticing how her clothes were now slowly dripping rainwater all over the floor as she tried to make sense of the strange tableau before her.

Kyoya Ootori was sitting at her kitchen table, looking as if it was the most natural thing in the world to be sharing a cup of coffee and chatting amiably with her father. She watched him for a moment from the shadow of the hall, hardly recognising the normally reserved boy as he leaned back, relaxing in his chair with a small smile on his lips and his eyes bright with amusement as he listened intently to Ranka who was laughing and gesturing wildly, obviously in the middle of telling a very entertaining story. They seemed to be completely at ease in each other's company and she found it a little disconcerting that the two males who were essentially polar opposites were getting on so well, a little _too_ well for her taste.

'_Like this day wasn't long enough already' _she thought agitatedly,_ 'Why on earth is __**he**__ here tonight?'_

She had spent the journey home looking forward to getting out of her uncomfortable and now sodden uniform and finally being able to relax; putting all thoughts of school, and the other students reactions to her new appearance out of her mind for the weekend. But it looked as if that was not to be, as she doubted that Kyoya-sempai had called over just to speak to her father. As if he hadn't being preying on her mind enough today since his strange behaviour that morning, now he had to invade her apartment too.

Haruhi slid her bag from her shoulder dejectedly and left it in the corner to dry off, hoping that none of her books were ruined and silently cursing herself for forgetting to bring an umbrella that day. She sighed as she glanced longingly at the bathroom door before abandoning all her previous hopes of a hot bath and an early night. She wished she might at least have time to slip into her room and change into some dry clothes before having to greet her father and his apparent new best friend, but of course her luck would never be that obliging.

Kyoya looked up seeming to hear her soft sigh, and his smile widened for a moment as he met her eyes before turning back to her father, "Speak of the devil…" he said genially.

'_Oh wonderful, they've been talking about me.' _Haruhi thought sardonically as she toed off her shoes and slipped on a pair of house slippers before stepping into the kitchen; suddenly a little concerned about what particular story her father had been telling about her that had the two men so highly amused.

"Haruhi, welcome home!" Ranka cried, looking up at his daughter briefly before gesturing to Kyoya, "Look who came to see us! I was just telling him about the time that you…" Her father's voice suddenly trailed off into silence and his shoulders stiffened as he turned slowly in his chair, coming to face her. He sat there, frozen in place, his mouth dropping open in shock as he gaped at her, and she found herself blushing under his unusually silent scrutiny.

"Hey Dad!" she replied with false cheerfulness before turning to greet Kyoya with a questioning look. "Hey Kyoya-sempai."

Kyoya regarded her silently, his expression changing from amusement to concern as he took in her dishevelled appearance, but as he they looked at each other, his eyes darkened further, with some unreadable emotion that caused Haruhi to self-consciously fidget with her sodden, bedraggled clothing; embarrassed at being the sole focus of the two men's attention.

"Sorry I'm late," she muttered in an effort to fill the strained silence. "Renge and I were chatting and I missed my usual train; by then it was raining so it took longer…" she stopped short as her father suddenly stood.

"You…You're…" he faltered.

'_Okay, I know I look a mess but please don't make a big deal about it, not in front of Kyoya-sempai'_ she pleaded silently as she met her father's incredulous gaze.

"What are you _wearing_?" he spluttered finally.

'_Oh, right! You didn't know about my little make-over.' _She thought wryly,_ 'Surprise Dad!' _

"My new uniform." She replied quickly, shivering as she felt a few clinging raindrops trail down her skin, and hoping against reason that her father would let the subject drop, at least until Kyoya had gone, and she had changed into some dry clothes. But again her luck seemed to be on sabbatical as Ranka came to stand before her, gripping her shoulders as he stared down at her, his mouth now stretching in to an ecstatic grin.

"You look…." He paused, seemingly lost for words, and then reached down and wrapped her in a suffocating hug.

"Ah my little Haruhi is so cute!" he exclaimed happily, as he swayed her from side to side.

"Ugh, Dad stop, you're crushing me!" She cried, struggling in vain to pull away from her father's tight embrace, "I'm soaked and you'll get all wet!"

Ranka ignored her, merely hugging her tighter. Over his shoulder she met Kyoya's dark gaze and his eyes seemed to be following her every movement, she groaned inwardly in embarrassment, dreading what her father would do or say next to mortify her.

Ranka finally released her, stepping back but taking both her hands in his, and holding her arms out wide as he appraised her. "Just look at you! You look like a princess!"

And there it was… the mortification that only a father can bestow… she found herself blushing furiously at the compliment and the sight of Kyoya who was now smirking at both her father's reaction and her embarrassment.

"Oh, no I don't. I look a mess, I got caught in the rain…" she replied, trying uselessly to control the heat rising on her cheeks, then she rolled her eyes in exasperation, "…Besides, it's not like you've never seen me in a dress before Dad."

"But it's been so long. I thought you'd wear those awful boy's clothes forever." He released one of her hands, and twirled her around by the other. "This looks _so_ good on you!"

"Stop it Dad!" Haruhi cried as she tried to regain her balance, but he only laughed elatedly and twirled her faster.

She gave up trying to retrieve her hand from his, and began giggling helplessly, caught up in her father's excitement as he spun her round and round. She caught sight of Kyoya who now watching them incredulously, as if he had never seen a parent behaving like this before; and instead of the sight sobering her it only made her laugh harder as she realised how odd it must look to see Ranka in his feminine clothes spinning his daughter around like she was a two year old.

Finally her father stopped swinging her about and held her steady on her feet once more as he looked at her curiously. "So what brought this on?" He asked eagerly, "Did you really go to school like this? Were people shocked? What did they say?"

Haruhi's smile slipped for a moment as she wondered how to answer her father's rapidly fired questions. It wasn't like she could tell him the truth, she reasoned. He had always known that she had been pretending to be a boy at school, and had been part of the host club; but she had never told him the whole story of how she had some to join it, or the fact that it had recently been disbanded or why. She felt a brief flash of guilt that she was hiding so many secrets from her father, but considering the fact he had never been that fond of Tamaki to begin with, the truth of why she was suddenly dressing as a girl again would only add fuel to that particular fire, so avoidance was probably best, at least for now…

"Oh I just felt like a change," she hedged, noticing from the corner of her eye that Kyoya had leaned forward interestedly to hear her answer. She sighed, wishing again that he had picked any other evening to call but this one; but her father was still watching her, obviously waiting for further elaboration and she really couldn't avoid the question.

"I guess I just realised that I couldn't go through the last two years of school pretending to be a boy; it was just time to come clean." She said finally, "So the twin's helped me with the dress and the makeover… although I don't think they would be too impressed if they saw me now..." She chuckled ruefully as she ran her fingers though her damp tresses.

"Don't be silly Haruhi, you look wonderful!" Ranka reassured her as he pulled her hand away from her hair. "But what did everyone say?" He asked again, and then his face darkened. "Did anyone give you a hard time? Because if they did..."

"No!" she replied quickly, "No, everyone was really nice about it actually. Although some people were a little more excited than others." She laughed, recalling Renge's enthusiasm, and then blushed as she remembered the moment she had shared with Kyoya that morning, she found herself pulling the hand that he had kissed from her father's grasp.

"But why didn't you tell _me_?" Ranka asked, a pout forming at the thought of being left out of a secret.

'_Well probably because I thought you might get over-excited, and possibly follow me to school to take pictures of me in my "cute" uniform, or buy me ridiculous clothes…'_ She faltered at that particular thought. _'Oh please, please don't ask if you can take me shopping…'_

"I just wanted it to be a surprise for you." She said hurriedly.

"Oh I think it's safe to say we were _all_ surprised." She heard Kyoya mutter and she threw him a warning glare, which he met with a steady gaze that set her blushing again; but luckily her father didn't seem to hear him, merely remained staring down at her with a fond smile and eyes that were now suspiciously bright and she quickly stepped back from him before he got too emotional.

"Dad, I really should change before I catch a cold." She said gesturing at her wet clothing, relived to have a reason to escape her father's questions and Kyoya's unnerving gaze for a moment.

"Of course," he replied, nodding happily as he let her go and bustling away to the kitchen counter, "You go on, and I'll make some tea to warm you up."

"Thanks." She replied gratefully as she turned to make her way to her room, carefully avoiding Kyoya's gaze as she went. She could already hear her father filling the kettle and humming cheerfully under his breath as she pulled the door closed behind her and leaned back against it, grateful for the brief moment of privacy.

OoOoOoO

When she caught sight of herself in her bedroom mirror she shook her head in mortification. Her uniform was wet through and was clinging tightly to her skin; her hair was hanging about her face, all traces of the curls Hikaru had painstakingly worked in, now washed away by the rain that still clung to the strands in glistening beads; and her face was still a little flushed from her father's enthusiastic greeting.

'_Only Dad could think I look like a princess instead of a drowned rat.' _ She thought ruefully.

She dragged her gaze away and quickly pulled off her uniform, shivering as the cool air met her wet skin and wishing she had time for at least a hot shower, but she was reluctant to leave her father and Kyoya alone for longer than necessary, as who knew what embarrassing stories her father would tell him. Instead, she reached for a towel and quickly dried herself before slipping on some warmer clothes and roughly towelling her hair dry before brushing it into some semblance of neatness.

As she turned to leave she caught sight of herself in the mirror again and sighed; there was the same old tomboyish Haruhi looking back at her again as if today had never happened. All that work that the twins had put into making her look somewhat pretty, with the dress and the hair and make-up, and all it took was a little rain to wash it all away, and for reality to set back in.

'_So much for not caring if people saw me as a boy or a girl.'_ She thought reprovingly as she regarded her reflection.

She had thought she was above all that, but could admit, if only to herself, that a small part of her had enjoyed revealing her secret today. She had been relieved that it was no longer hanging over her; and as the hours passed and none of the horrible scenarios that had been preying on her mind came to pass, she had finally begun to relax. She had always known that the twins would stand by her, but Renge's ready acceptance and the reactions of most of the other students, while tiring at times, was actually quiet gratifying. But now that she was home, and the dress and makeup were gone, she was just the same old Haruhi; nothing had really changed.

She rubbed her forehead in annoyance at her self-pitying train of thought. Of course she was still the same girl she had been yesterday. What did she want? To become like one of those vain, over-indulged girls that she had despaired at dealing with in the host club? She shuddered at the thought, and then the image of Tamaki or the twins fawning over her outrageously, as they had with some of the other girls at the club popped into her mind and she grinned. No, that definitely wasn't for her, she would hate all that fake attention.

But suddenly that scene was replaced with Kyoya attending her and her grin faded to a contemplative smile. Somehow that prospect didn't seem quite as ridiculous to her for some reason; and yet she couldn't imagine him fawning over anyone, much less her. But the thought of them sitting together and conversing quietly as she had seen him do with some of his "fans" made her smile shyly, until that image was quickly replaced with the memory of him holding her in his arms as he had in the music room that night… but this time there was no knock at the door, and as she looked up at him and he came ever closer, that dark warmth in his eyes drawing her in… this time there was no reason for her to leave...

'_Don't be ridiculous!'_ she told herself severely, her heart thudding loudly in her chest as she tried to shake off those thoughts _ 'This is Kyoya Ootori you're talking about, why on earth would he be interested in you? What merit could you possibly offer him? And why on earth do you even care?'_

She didn't, she tried to convince herself forcefully. She didn't really think that way about him; it was just lack of sleep and too many overly emotional and stressful days. She was reading too much into things, that was all… it would all be better after a good night's sleep. She gave her reflection a reassuring smile as she made her way to the door, hoping that she knew what she was talking about, but a small part of her doubted it.

**Kyoya.**

This evening had _really_ not gone according to plan, Kyoya mused darkly as he watched Haruhi's door close behind her.

Ever since Tamaki had made the unfortunate request that Kyoya call to check up on her, he had been trying to convince himself that there was no problem; that he could easily keep his feelings and emotions under control. He was an Ootori after all, they prided themselves on being cool-headed, and he was no different. He would simply call over under the pretence of dropping off something that had been left behind after clearing out the music room. He would make sure that she was doing ok so that he could reassure Tamaki that she was fine, and then he would leave. Simple.

Instead, it had been her father that had opened the door as Kyoya knocked; quickly informing him that Haruhi was not home yet as he saw Kyoya's look of surprise. Ranka had been delighted to see the younger man, exclaiming that it had been too long since any of Haruhi's friends had called over; and although Kyoya had tried to leave, saying that he would call another time, Ranka was having none of it and quickly pulled the younger man into the small apartment to share a cup of coffee while they waited for his daughter to return.

Kyoya had stood awkwardly in the kitchen, unused to being here without the other boys enthusiastically claiming Ranka's attention. Though he had shared texts and a few brief phone calls with the man to discuss how Haruhi was doing in the club or to ask his permission to have her attend a group outing; it was quite different to have to spend time alone with him making idle conversation. But the older man seemed completely unperturbed by Kyoya's silence and was gossiping away as he prepared their coffee. Kyoya smirked at Ranka's typically exuberant chatter and resigned himself to being talked at incessantly until Haruhi returned to save them both.

He allowed his eyes to drift over the apartment, which was mainly decorated in Ranka's unusual taste, but here and there, there were signs of Haruhi's presence, such as the academic books that were piled high on a table, above which he saw pictures that had gone unnoticed on his previous visit. He drifted over, laying the box he was carrying on top of the pile of books as he leaned in to inspect the photos, not noticing that Ranka had fallen silent and was now watching him appraisingly.

Kyoya spotted a photo of Haruhi as a small child, dressed in an outlandish costume and smiling happily in her mother's arms, and a soft chuckle escaped him as he recalled how much she had hated dressing up as part of the host club. Ranka saw where his attention was focused and came to stand behind him, smiling gently as he told him the story of the school play that Haruhi had been in when she was in kindergarten, how Kotoko had made the outfit for her and how Haruhi had steadfastly refused to wear anything else for the whole week. Ranka laughed as he explained how they eventually had to hide the outfit from her, fearing that she would demand to wear it everywhere.

"That's my headstrong little girl." He said fondly, chuckling at the memory as he reached out and ran his fingers over the picture's frame. He turned away to pour the coffee, inviting Kyoya to join him at the table and soon they were chatting steadily, one story of Haruhi's childhood following another and Kyoya soon found himself asking questions to get a clearer image of the cheerful carefree girl that Haruhi had been as a child.

He laughed softly as Ranka told him of some of the ridiculous situations that the family had found themselves in, mainly due to some of the father's less than well thought out ideas; then grew quiet as he spoke freely of how Haruhi had changed after her mother's death to become the serious, level-headed girl she was today. But Ranka could never stay solemn for long and was soon regaling him with yet another amusing anecdote when Kyoya heard a sigh coming from the hallway and glanced up to see Haruhi looking back at him in consternation.

He couldn't help the smile that crossed his features as he saw her, but when she stepped into the kitchen he felt that smile slip from his face as he saw that she was soaked through. He glanced quickly out the window and cursed himself for not noticing that it had begun to rain while he was chatting with Ranka, but as his gaze drifted back to meet hers, and she came to stand under the bright kitchen lights, he found that he couldn't take his eyes off her.

The rain had darkened her hair to ebony and still shone through the strands here and there in glistening beads, her uniform was clinging intimately to her skin, highlighting every feminine curve of her slender form in a way that made his mouth run dry and his fingers long to reach out and touch her. A blush was steadily climbing her cheeks, brightening her features as her dark questioning eyes met his for a moment; but he was frozen in place, simply watching her instead of answering her greeting. As she looked shyly away from him to speak to her father, a single raindrop fell from her hair on to her neck and Kyoya's skin heated as his gaze followed the glistening drop's tortuously slow journey down her pale skin until it vanished beneath the collar of her dress. She shivered as it disappeared from his sight, obviously feeling the cool liquid trail beneath her clothes, and he released a silent shaky breath at the sight.

'_Calm down!'_ He ordered himself tersely as he tried unsuccessfully to pull his eyes away from her, _'This is Haruhi! You promised yourself you wouldn't think of her like that, for Tamaki's sake at least.'_

But although he tried to focus his mind, his body seemed unwilling to comply and he found himself pulling restlessly at the collar of his shirt, which seemed to be growing a little tight in the suddenly too warm kitchen. He sat there in silence, trying to rein in his lecherous thoughts, but wholly unable to drag his eyes away from her, even when her dark gaze met his once more and he feared that she might be able to read his mind.

Thankfully, Ranka had come unknowingly to his rescue. Kyoya had watched in astonishment and silent amusement as the older man gathered his daughter into his arms and spun her about in childish abandon. A part of him was jealous at the obvious familial bond, so different from his own reserved family; but a larger part enjoyed seeing the carefree smile that lit up Haruhi's features. He had sighed in relief, the strange tension that had built within him fading as he watched the light-hearted scene unfold. But now, as he sat in silence once more, his eyes drifted back to her closed door and he found himself shifting uncomfortably in his chair as he tried, ineffectually, to not imagine her undressing within her room.

He reached out to grasp his coffee in an effort to distract himself, taking a sip before remembering that the beverage was now cold and grimacing at the bitter taste. He quickly put the cup back and suddenly realised that the kitchen was now completely silent; that there was no clinking of cups and Ranka was no longer humming or chatting airily in the background. His blood ran cold and he pulled his gaze guiltily from Haruhi's door, fearing that her father had seen the direction Kyoya's thoughts had taken and dreading the rebuke to come; but the older man was still standing at the counter, a half filled kettle in his hands as he stared pensively out the window.

"There's more to this story than she's telling me isn't there?" Ranka asked eventually, his voice unusually subdued as he dropped the kettle back in place and turned it on.

Kyoya considered lying for a moment, but thought the better of it as Ranka turned to face him, his features unusually grave and his shrewd eyes fixed on Kyoya's as he waited for an answer.

"I've found that Haruhi's judgement is generally sound," Kyoya replied evasively, "if there is something she is hiding or keeping to herself, it must be for a good reason.'

Ranka eyed him seriously and then asked "This has something to do with the host club and that blond idiot doesn't it?"

Kyoya bristled at hearing Tamaki spoken of like that, but Ranka broke in again, waving his hand placatingly as he saw Kyoya's annoyance.

"I know he's your best friend Kyoya-kun, but he's a little too like to me, for me to ever like him." Ranka leaned back against the counter as he glanced sadly towards his daughter's room. "Haruhi is so like her mother… Kotoko always put others ahead of herself, me included… and I don't want…" Ranka fell silent for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck as he searched for the words to explain what he meant.

"I just want her to be happy." He continued eventually, "After her mother died she became far too serious, only interested in studying and following in Kotoko's footsteps. She never made any time for friends or a social life, but that all changed when she went to Ouran and met you and the other boys." He flashed Kyoya a grateful smile. "She seemed happy… but the past few days she's been moping about, and she's obviously worried about something, but she never tells me anything and… I just worry about her…"

Kyoya leaned forward resting his arms on the table as he regarded Ranka earnestly, "You can't think that we would ever let anything happen to her?"

Ranka heaved a sigh of relief as he replied, "I'm counting on it, well counting on _you _really… I want you to promise me that you'll look out for her. I don't know what's going on with your little club or why she's acting like this. I don't want to pry into her life as I have always tried to let her have her independence, but I need to know that she's ok."

The older man looked at him pleadingly and Kyoya sighed, wondering why it was that everyone suddenly seemed to think that Haruhi needed protecting; and why on earth everyone seemed to think he was the man for the job, when all he was trying to do was keep his distance. And he wondered how happy Ranka would be for Kyoya to keep an eye on his daughter if he had known how Kyoya had begun to think of her.

"Of course Ranka-san, it would be my pleasure." he replied finally, trying not to think too much about the truth of those words.

OoOoOoO

By the time Haruhi came to join them once again, Ranka was back to his old self, teasing his daughter playfully when he saw she was wearing her old boyish clothes again and handing her a cup of tea. She had blushed at her father's words, but Kyoya was secretly pleased that she was dressed in a way that allowed him to think clearly once more; although, he couldn't deny that his gaze still drifted repeatedly towards her, tracing her features as she chatted with her father and skilfully skirted any topics she wanted to avoid.

She glanced out the window at one point and turned to her father, cutting him off mid-sentence as she asked, "Don't you have to work tonight Dad?"

"Oh I don't have to be there till seven," Ranka replied as he glanced dismissively up at the clock, but then his eyes widened in surprise as he realised the time.

"Oh, damn it!" He cried, leaping up from his chair and racing about the kitchen, gathering his keys and pulling on a jacket before searching frantically for his handbag, which Haruhi quickly retrieved from the sofa where he had obviously tossed it the morning before.

"Thanks sweetheart," he said relieving her of the bag and slinging it over his shoulder before running his fingers through his long auburn hair. "How do I look?"

"You look great Dad." Haruhi huffed as he pulled her into another tight hug, "Now go, before you're late!" She pushed him away towards the door and he smiled down at her before giving Kyoya a brief wave and a meaningful look as he left.

Haruhi remained in the hallway; her back to Kyoya as she stared at the door though which Ranka had disappeared.

"I'm sorry about my father." She said as silence filled the room after Ranka's abrupt departure.

"Why?" Kyoya asked in surprise, wondering if she somehow knew of Ranka's request.

"He has a tendency to get a little over-excited at times, especially when it comes to me." She replied with an embarrassed smile as she turned and made her way back to the table to join him.

"Don't apologize for that," Kyoya said sharply. "It just shows he cares. Not all parents are that demonstrative." She looked at him in surprise as she heard his harsh tone, and he offered her a slight smile of apology.

"What about your parents? Do they ever embarrass you like that?" She asked as she picked up her tea again and took a sip. He looked at her in consternation, trying to imagine his father laughing heartily or twirling Fuyumi around in cheerful abandon. The idea was ludicrous and he burst out laughing, slightly horrified at the thought.

"God no!" He exclaimed, still chuckling as he rubbed his forehead, trying to dispel the image. He saw her face colour in at his reaction and his laughter trailed off.

"Your father is an exceptional man Haruhi. It can't have been easy for him to lose his wife so young and raise a daughter alone, especially with everything else he was going through… although from what he's told me, you were so self-reliant that you practically raised yourself." He said, thinking back to the stories Ranka had told him earlier. "But he's truly interested in your life, excited by your achievements as long as they make you happy, and he isn't embarrassed to show it."

"No, my father is rarely embarrassed by anything." She replied fondly, and Kyoya again felt that brief flash of jealously at the closeness the two Fujioka's shared.

"My father on the other hand, is only interested in our achievements as long as they reflect well on him. And my mother is too busy being Yoshio Ootori's wife to have any time to spend with us at all." He said darkly. Haruhi looked over at him, sympathy clearly visible in her eyes, and he winced as he realised how self-pitying that had sounded.

"I'm sorry Kyoya-sempai, I shouldn't have asked." She said quietly.

"Kyoya." He urged gently.

"Pardon?" she asked, looking over at him in confusion.

"I think we know each other well enough now, for you to stop calling me sempai, don't you agree?" He asked softly, "Especially since I'm so forward as to call to your house unannounced?"

She laughed shyly as she rested her cup back on the table, "And I was just thinking that I didn't know you at all."

He looked at her questioningly and she finally met his gaze and offered a slight shrug. "I've just realised that you all know so much about my father and I; and the others talk about their families all the time. But you never do Kyoya-sem… Kyoya."

He stiffened at the implication in her tone. "There's really not much to say… we're not very interesting." He replied dismissively.

"I doubt that," she said quietly, "But I think I understand now, why you're so serious all the time, and I'm glad you have someone like Tamaki-sempai to distract you from it."

He sat in silence for a moment, hating the idea that she was possibly thinking of him as some dark humourless creature, incapable of feeling, when lately, nothing could be further from the truth; and trying to hide the flash of annoyance he felt as he heard the fondness in her voice as she spoke of Tamaki.

"Well he certainly is distracting." He replied eventually.

"The two of you seem so different… I've always wondered how you became friends, but now it makes sense. You're both so distant from your own families that you've made one of your own." She said, biting her lip as she tried to hide her smile.

He regarded her for a moment, allowing the truth of her statement to sink in. "A pretty strange family, considering he seems to think I'm the mother." He replied sardonically.

"Well I never said he was very logical," she chuckled, "You're more like a cranky grandfather!" He looked at her crossly at the unfair comparison, but his heart gave a strange lurch in his chest as she laughed, leaning in to give him a playful push on his arm.

He shook off his strange reaction, trying to regain his composure, "Tamaki's actually the reason I'm here," he said abruptly, and she looked at him curiously.

"He's worried about you…and he's not the only one." Kyoya admitted.

Haruhi rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Why? I'm absolutely fine Kyoya."

He turned to face her, tracing her features with his eyes. "You turned up at school today, revealing a secret that only the rest of us knew, and you didn't think we would be concerned about what might happen?" He shook his head in frustration as he saw the confusion in her eyes, "You really have no idea what a difference you have made to our "little family" do you?"

Haruhi shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, "What difference could I have made? I was only there to pay off that stupid vase."

Kyoya eyed her apprehensively, "Haruhi, did it never occur to you that in a school like ours that the vase was probably insured?" He asked, wincing as he saw Haruhi's expression change slowly from confusion to outrage.

"But you….you told me…." She spluttered, and his apprehension grew as her face darkened in anger. "You've lied to me…all this time, you've been holding that money over me…keeping me in the club…" She glared at him for a moment, before releasing a huff of annoyance and throwing her hands up in defeat. "I don't even know why I'm surprised that _you'd_ pull something like that."

"It started off as a joke, just a stupid joke on the new scholarship student," he said quietly, dismayed by the anger in her eyes, "but then Tamaki was so convinced you were a boy and I just wanted to see his reaction when he found out the truth, but by then we had gotten to know you, and..."

She stared angrily at him as he spoke, but then suddenly looked away, clasping a hand over her mouth as she snorted in laughter.

He fell silent, leaning back in his chair, eyeing her warily as he watched her unexpected reaction. Any other girl would have yelled or cried, but yet again Haruhi surprised him.

She looked up at him, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, "It took me a while to get to know you Kyoya, but once I did I realised that you would never leave anything to chance… of course the vase was insured, I would expect nothing less from you. I just never thought it would take you this long to admit it."

She shook her head reprovingly at him, "Did you really think I was that naive?" He shook his head mutely in response, and she flashed him a triumphant smile.

He should have known better really, hadn't he always thought that she was one of the smartest people he knew? Did he really think he could have fooled her that easily?

"Then why did you stay with the club?" he asked finally.

"Oh I hated it to begin with," she said with a smile and then shrugged, "but after a while, I guess the guy's just grew on me…even you."

"Even me?" he echoed questioningly.

"Oh I think even the "shadow king" isn't as cold-hearted as he pretends to be." She offered him a placating smile and then held up a finger in warning, "Just don't try anything like that again. If I'm meant your friend you shouldn't keep secrets from me."

'_Keeping secrets from my friends is all I seem to do lately,'_ he thought abjectly_, 'Should I tell you that I have feelings for you, or should I tell Tamaki that I have feelings for the only girl he's ever seemed to care about?'_

Kyoya thought about that for a moment, in all the time that Tamaki had spent in the host club, not one of the many girls who craved his company ever seemed to truly catch his eye. Of course he entertained and flattered them, even flirted with them outrageously; but the moment that any of them grew too close or got too interested in him, Tamaki would pull away and focus his attentions elsewhere. They had never spoken of it, but Kyoya had always thought that Tamaki had just been having too much fun to ever be tied down by one girl, or maybe he didn't want to risk losing the host club, or perhaps he had just been waiting for someone like Haruhi to come along. And it was just Kyoya's bad luck that he seemed to be falling for her too.

Haruhi was still looking at him, waiting for an answer. No, those secrets were best kept to himself he decided, despite wishing it could be otherwise.

"Of course, no more secrets." He said with a wry smile, and she nodded in approval.

Relieved at her ready acceptance, he decided it was time to leave. "It's getting late, I really should go." He said as he stood, retrieving his jacket from the back of his chair and shrugging it on. She came to her feet too, following him as he made his way to the door, but he had only gained the hallway when she called after him.

"Is this yours?" Her voice was hesitant, and he turned to see her gesturing at the box that he had left on top of her books.

"In a way," he said evasively, "But I brought it for you."

"What is it?" She asked as she carefully lifted the box and pulled at the lid.

"It's nothing really, just a little memento from the host club." He replied quietly, resting a hand on top of hers to prevent her opening it just yet. "I thought that you and your father might find use for them."

She looked up at him questioningly and he shrugged, embarrassed by his own gift. He released her hand and began to button his jacket closed in preparation for the rain that was still falling outside.

"Thank you." She said quietly, as she placed the box back on the table.

He offered her a brief smile, before turning and making his way to the door. He pulled it open and stepped out into the rain, turning back to face her as she came to the doorway.

"Thanks for calling over to check up on me, but you really should tell Tamaki that I'm fine. He has enough to worry about, and I'm sure you do too." She said shyly.

"It was no trouble." He replied truthfully and then met her eyes steadily, "I'm just glad you're doing ok."

She regarded him awkwardly for a moment, "Goodnight Kyoya." She said finally, closing the door slowly.

"Goodnight Haruhi." He replied quietly as it clicked shut and he turned and made his way down the stairs.

**Saturday.**

Haruhi woke the following morning, to the sound of someone knocking loudly at the apartment door. She could hear her father cursing loudly at the incessant noise and glanced at the clock beside her bed, realising that he had only been home a few hours and wincing as another round of knocks reverberated through the small apartment.

"I'll get it Dad." she called out and heard a vague snore of approval in reply.

She quickly pulled on a dressing gown and made her way down the hall, rubbing blearily at her eyes as she wondered who could be calling so early. She pulled open the door and was promptly pushed aside as an ash blond streak passed her and came into the apartment.

She turned slowly, still half asleep to be greeted by the sight of a beaming Renge.

"Renge?" Haruhi asked groggily; not quite able to make sense of why the girl was standing before her.

"Good morning! I bring coffee," Renge said brightly, as she shoved a Styrofoam cup into Haruhi's hand, "Why aren't you dressed, I thought we had plans today?"

Haruhi rubbed her forehead as she tried to remember what the other girl was talking about and then recalled that she had promised to meet her today; although Haruhi had only agreed to it so that she could escape from the blond girls clutches and finally catch a train home last night.

"I thought that was later." She said, as she glanced at the clock.

Renge shrugged, "Oh well, I'm here now. So let's go!"

"Go where?" Haruhi asked sullenly as she took a sip of the coffee, almost chocking as she realised how strong it was and she quickly set it down.

"Oh sorry about that, I got us espressos. It's going to be a long day so we'll need them." Renge said as she glanced interestedly about the apartment. "I got one for your dad too," She leaned in conspiratorially as she whispered "I wanted to make a good impression, since I plan on calling over a lot."

Haruhi's brain short-circuited at the thought of the blond girl becoming a regular fixture in the apartment, and at the same time thought that Renge had lost any chance of making a good impression on her father when she decided to assault their door that morning.

"So where is he?" Renge asked, peeking into the kitchen.

"_He's_ here." A hoarse voice came from the vicinity of her father's room and Haruhi looked up to see him leaning tiredly against the doorframe of his room as he stared incredulously at Renge.

Renge's face lit up in a brilliant smile as she pranced over to Ranka and gave a gracious bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you Fujioka-sama. I'm Houshakuji, Renge; a school friend of Haruhi's." She held out the Styrofoam carrier that still held one cup, "I brought you some coffee."

Ranka looked at his daughter questioningly, but Haruhi merely shrugged her shoulders, completely bewildered by Renge's strange and formal behaviour. He tentatively reached out to take the cup and took a cautious sip, before sighing gratefully as the caffeine entered his system.

He eyed Renge speculatively, "It's nice to meet you Renge-san, what brings you here this morning?"

She smiled cheerfully as she gestured over at Haruhi. "I was hoping you might permit me to borrow Haruhi for a couple of hours."

'_Hours?'_ Haruhi wondered tiredly, _'What has Renge planned for today?'_

Her father seemed to echo her thoughts as he asked, "And where exactly are you planning on abducting my daughter to?"

Renge glanced at Haruhi in exasperation, "You didn't tell him?"

'_Tell him what?'_ Haruhi stared at her in confusion, but Renge had already turned away.

"Haruhi and I are going shopping for dresses for the Spring Ball." She said excitedly.

'_No we aren't! Wait…what spring ball?_' Haruhi tried to remember what exactly she had agreed to when she had arranged to meet with Renge today, but came up blank.

"I really don't think I can go shopping today." Haruhi said carefully, "I have so much homework…"

Renge spun to face her, her face set in disappointment, and as she turned her elbow caught the box that Kyoya had left the evening before.

"Careful!" Haruhi cried as she reached for the falling container, she grabbed it before it hit the ground and sighed in relief.

"Oh I'm sorry Haruhi, is it broken?" Renge asked worriedly.

"I don't know," Haruhi replied as she pulled open the lid and peered inside. A number of objects packaged in brown paper lay within, but the wrapping had pulled away from one of the items and Haruhi could clearly see the pattern of the exposed cup, it was the same pattern as the pieces of china she had broken in the music room during her fit of anger. She stared at it in silence for a moment, not noticing that both Renge and her father were staring at her curiously.

"Isn't that the box Kyoya had yesterday?" Her father asked finally.

"Yeah." Haruhi replied quietly, as she closed the box once more and left it back on the table, wondering why on earth Kyoya had given her the remains of that tea set. Just seeing that pattern made her cheeks heat in embarrassment, as she remembered her ill-advised tantrum and what had happened after.

"Oh Kyoya-sempai was here?" Renge asked in an unusually quiet voice.

Haruhi glanced up at her to see that the other girl had a wide smile and a mischievous glint in her eyes. She could almost see the questions running through Renge's mind, and hurriedly spoke before Renge could voice any of them.

"It's just something from the club," she said dismissively, hoping to dissuade Renge from asking any questions about it.

"Ah Kyoya was so thoughtful to drop it over." Renge said playfully.

Ranka was eying them both curiously and Haruhi threw Renge a pleading look. The blond girl rolled her eyes at Haruhi as she took a sip of her coffee, then fixed her features into a sorrowful pout and Haruhi could already imagine what would happen next.

Renge turned to face Ranka, "I'm so sorry to have bothered you so early Fujioka-sama, especially since Haruhi seems to be so busy," she said sadly, "It's such a pity, I was really looking forward to picking out our dresses together…"

She left the words hanging in the air, and Ranka smiled reassuringly at her before regarding Haruhi seriously.

"Don't be silly Haruhi; you can do your homework later. I think a day's shopping is a wonderful idea."

'_Of course you do…'_ Haruhi thought dejectedly.

"Oh thank you!" Renge cried, clasping her hands together excitedly, before turning and flashing Haruhi a triumphant smile.

Realising she had already lost the battle, Haruhi laughed softly in defeat. "Fine, just let me get dressed."

She made her way to her room, and could already hear Renge and her father chatting animatedly. She closed the door behind her, wondering where all her hopes of a relaxing weekend had disappeared to…

**TBC**


	9. Chapter 9: With friends like these

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran or its characters.**

**AN: Thanks to all the people who favorited/followed since the previous chapter, and, as always, a special thank you to the lovely people who took the time to review.**

**Chapter 9: With friends like these...**

**Saturdays are for shopping and secrets…**

"What do you think of this one?" Renge asked as she waltzed out of the changing room for the third time that morning.

Haruhi looked up from her book to regard the blonde girl who gave an experimental twirl in an almost blinding concoction of scarlet taffeta and diamante beading. "Um...It's nice?" She replied noncommittally, less impressed by the dress than the fact that Renge was able to walk, much less twirl in the five inch heels she was currently wearing.

Renge came to stand in front of the mirrored wall, running her fingers over the fitted fabric as she turned from side to side, examining her reflection carefully. She looked up to meet Haruhi's eyes in the mirror and then huffed in annoyance as she saw the book in her hands.

"Honestly Haruhi, you have to be the only person I know that would bring a something to read on a shopping trip. Aren't you even going to try something on?" She pouted, throwing Haruhi a hopeful glance.

"Renge, this little excursion was your bright idea; I don't even want to go to the spring ball," Haruhi sighed exasperatedly as she looked at the expensive clothes that surrounded them, "besides, I could never afford to buy a dress here."

"Oh never mind that, I'll lend you something to wear," Renge said dismissively, "but half the fun is trying them on; you don't actually have to _buy_ anything." She grinned at Haruhi over her shoulder, completely oblivious to the disgruntled look a nearby sales assistant threw her on hearing that.

Flashing Haruhi a mischievous smile Renge disappeared amongst the couture clothing, only to return moments later with a collection of dresses draped over one arm. Haruhi eyed her warily, but the taller girl merely grinned as she grabbed Haruhi's wrist with her free hand and pulled her to her feet, dragging her complaining behind her as she headed towards the changing room once more. Ignoring Haruhi's muttered protests Renge arranged the dresses artfully on a rack before selecting two and holding them up thoughtfully, glancing from the vibrant fabrics to Haruhi and back again.

"Here, you try this one on." She said finally in a tone that brooked no argument, pushing a deep blue dress into Haruhi's hands and propelling her towards one of the changing rooms before disappearing into the adjoining one.

Haruhi sighed in defeat as she pulled the door closed behind her, she hung the dress to one side and stared at it dejectedly, wondering how she was meant to breathe, never mind dance in such a figure-hugging outfit. She shrugged to herself, recalling Renge's earlier words "_Half the fun is trying them on..._" and began to change out of her clothes, only to freeze a moment later as Renge's voice drifted over the partition.

"So, Kyoya-sempai called over last night huh?" Renge's tone was only mildly inquisitive, but Haruhi could almost picture the rabid curiosity in the other girl's eyes.

"Yeah," Haruhi replied hesitantly, trying to sound nonchalant as she resumed undressing, "he was just dropping off something that was left behind from the host club."

"It must have been a very important _something,_ if it couldn't wait until school on Monday." Renge quipped amidst the sound of rustling fabric.

"Oh it was nothing really," Haruhi hedged as she pulled the dress from its hanger and endeavoured to slip it on. She could hear Renge laughing softly under her breath and grimaced, wishing that the blonde girl wasn't quite so inquisitive.

"You could have fooled me," Renge replied in a sing song voice, "the way you were looking into that box...I thought your head was going to explode."

"It was just an old tea set he thought my father and I might like." Haruhi replied defensively, feeling her face heat up as she remembered Kyoya's strangely nostalgic gift.

"A tea set?" Renge sounded vaguely disappointed and Haruhi allowed herself to hope that that might be the end of the questions.

She could hear the other girl's door open and quickly zipped up her own dress before stepping out to join her, only to stop short a moment later as she caught sight of herself in one of the mirrors. Embarrassment flooded through her as she regarded the cerulean dress that was practically moulded to her skin, she began frantically trying to pull down the hem that was far too short and pull up the neckline that was cut far too low, but only managed to pull the dress slightly askew, showing even more skin.

"Hmmm," Renge murmured, and Haruhi glanced up in mortification to see the taller girl, now draped in a modest, green, one shouldered dress; standing with one hand on her hip and a finger pressed to her lips as she eyed Haruhi thoughtfully. Haruhi sighed in relief as she saw the disapproval in the other girl's eyes; surely Renge would agree that this dress was completely ridiculous, it was too short, too tight, too…

"Too dark." Renge said finally and turned to sift through the other dresses, searching for one in a lighter shade.

"Too dark?" Haruhi asked faintly, "I really don't think that's the problem…"

"Try this one." Renge ordered as she pressed another dress into her hands and pushed her unceremoniously towards the changing room once again.

Haruhi stared disbelievingly at the dress she held; if anything it was even more revealing than the one before and she turned back to Renge, ready to protest at the thought of donning the outrageous garment but the blonde girl was already grinning at her as she held up another dress, this one a flowing, full length, strapless gown in shimmering champagne.

"Only kidding! I think this one is more your style." she said with a smirk, but then bit her lip as she regarded Haruhi's current attire appraisingly. "Although… I'm sure the guys would prefer to see you in something like that."

Haruhi glared at her and Renge's smile widened as she rolled her eyes, "Oh Haruhi, it was a joke… you really have to learn to live a little." Haruhi growled in annoyance as she grabbed the other dress and stalked towards the changing room, leaving Renge giggling softly behind her.

"Oh, and don't worry if you don't like that one…" Renge called as Haruhi slammed the door closed, "…there's lots more to try on!" Haruhi winced at the thought of being Renge's personal mannequin for the day, but apparently the blonde girl didn't think that playing dress-up was torture enough.

"So… does Kyoya make a habit of calling over to see you?" Renge asked suddenly through the closed door and Haruhi almost dropped the dress as she startled at the sudden change of topic.

"What? No!" She replied quickly, and then realised that Renge was not going to let this drop until she got some morsel of gossip. "I guess some of guys were concerned after my little revelation and he just wanted to make sure I was ok." This was met with silence and Haruhi suddenly found herself wondering if perhaps Renge was upset that Kyoya had called over to see her, after all, it wasn't that long ago since Renge had a crush on him.

"It was silly really; I guess they were just worried that some of the other students might have given me a hard time... so he was just checking up on me." She rushed to reassure her, but the other girl still remained worryingly quiet. Haruhi quickly finished fixing her dress in place and pulled open the door, only to come face to face with Renge who had her hands clasped together over her heart and was biting her lip fiercely as she fought to hold back a manic grin.

She seemed to lose the battle suppressing her delight and squealed loudly. "That is _so_ sweet of him!"

Haruhi recoiled from the high pitched shriek and began waving her hands at Renge in a shushing manner, offering an apologetic smile to the sales assistant who glanced in curiously.

"No it isn't...it wasn't like that. He was doing it for Tamaki." Haruhi corrected her quickly.

"Oh Please!" Renge scoffed, "You saw the way he was looking at you yesterday, right?"

Haruhi looked up at her in confusion and Renge rolled her eyes exasperatedly, "Honestly Haruhi, you must be blind..." She pulled the smaller girl over to where the mirrors lined the walls and stood behind her, making little adjustments to the dress and fixing the straps to sit in place as she spoke. "Trust me; if anyone was concerned about you, it was Kyoya-sempai… he could barely take his eyes of you."

Haruhi glanced up apprehensively to meet Renge's gaze in the mirror and the taller girl stared back at her in puzzlement for a moment before her eyes suddenly widened in comprehension. "Oh, if you're worried about me, don't be! I'm _so_ not interested in Kyoya anymore; he's far too serious..." She laughed brightly as she turned away, flicking her hair back over her shoulders as she examined her own dress in the mirror, "...besides, I have my sights set on someone else."

Haruhi found herself releasing a sigh of relief and then frowned in annoyance at her reflection. Why should it make any difference to know that Renge wasn't interested in Kyoya anymore, and why did she find herself wanting to smile at the thought that he hadn't been able to keep his eyes off her. She glanced over at Renge who was still playing with her hair, fixing it in various styles as she examined her reflection.

"So who is this mystery man that's caught your attention?" Haruhi asked playfully, but felt a flash of concern as a vaguely troubled look passed briefly over the blonde's features. Renge seemed to notice her attention and her carefree smile slid back in place as she flashed her a wink.

"Oh it's far too early to say. I haven't even convinced him I'm the one for him yet." She replied with an air of confidence, then she poked Haruhi on the shoulder, "Besides, it's _your_ secrets I'm interested in."

"I don't have any secrets!" Haruhi protested and then blushed as Renge eyed her incredulously. "Okay, I don't have any _anymore _secrets_._" She gestured to her feminine clothes, "Surprise I'm a girl!"

Renge pulled a Venetian mask from one of the nearby stands and held it over her eyes, admiring the emerald feathers at the masks edge as they nestled against her blonde hair. She kept the mask in place as she glanced back at Haruhi, a impish smile playing over her lips, "So Kyoya knows you're interested in him then?" she asked slyly.

"No!" Haruhi replied quickly and then caught herself, "I mean, I'm not... I just..." Her shoulders slumped in defeat as Renge giggled at her awkwardness, "I don't know... I really didn't think I was interested in him, but some things happened and I..."

Renge looked at her curiously as she fell silent. "What things?"

Haruhi hesitated and Renge huffed in annoyance, "Oh come on! I'm not going to tell anyone and you obviously need to talk about it, you're so wound up!"

"It's just kind of embarrassing," Haruhi muttered and Renge raised an eyebrow suggestively, "Not _that _kind of embarrassing, get your mind out of the gutter!" she hissed.

Renge's face fell in disappointment, but she gestured for Haruhi to continue. And so, Haruhi told her everything that had happened over the past few days, from that night in the music room, to Kyoya's strange visit the evening before and his evocative gift. The entire time, Renge stayed uncharacteristically silent, merely listening intently as she handed Haruhi one dress after another to try on, and pointing resolutely at the changing room whenever she looked like rebelling.

Haruhi had to admit that it was nice to have someone to talk to about this, but wished that Renge would say _something,_ as it was rather disconcerting to be the one doing all the talking for once, and the other girls silence seemed to encourage her to say far more than she normally would. Even as she finished speaking, Renge remained quiet, staring at Haruhi pensively for a long moment as she fidgeted nervously in the latest selection, a pearl pink asymmetrical dress that trailed delicately behind her as she made her way over to the taller girl.

"So let me get this straight," Renge said finally, her brow furrowed in thought, "you're upset and he comforts you, then you have your little make-over and he kisses your hand in front of everybody…"

"Not _everybody_…" Haruhi muttered but Renge waved that unimportant detail away.

"…then he calls over to your house, makes nice with your father, brings you a gift that has fairly obvious associations for you both… and you think he was just checking up on you?"

"He was!" Haruhi assured her.

Renge regarded her in consternation, "You do realise that you're an _idiot_!"

"What? Why?" Haruhi asked in annoyance.

"Kyoya Ootori never does _anything_ without a reason!" Renge said exasperatedly and held up a hand as she saw Haruhi was about to protest, "Tamaki may have asked him to check up on you, but I'm pretty sure he didn't ask him to kiss your hand, or spend time with your Dad listening to stories about you, _or_ bring you that gift…"

Haruhi looked at her in bewilderment and Renge grinned, "It's obvious he's interested in you too."

"No he's not!" Haruhi said quickly, mainly trying to assure herself of the fact, "Why would he be…"

"Why wouldn't he?" Renge asked as she spun Haruhi to face the mirror and gestured to her glamorous image, "Plus, you're one of the only people I know that could match his intellect too." Renge grinned at her triumphantly, "He's definitely interested, that was pretty plain to see yesterday. I guess the question is… are you?"

She blushed furiously and Renge laughed in delight, "I'll take that as a yes."

"What difference does it make?" Haruhi asked embarrassedly, "You might be imagining things; just because he was concerned, doesn't mean he's actually interested in me, and how could I even tell if he was?"

"Well I'm just telling you what I saw; but men are fickle creatures, it's impossible to know what's going on in their minds half the time." Renge said airily, pulling out another dress and holding it against herself as she turned to the mirror and looked appraisingly at her reflection.

Haruhi looked at her askance, "Don't they say the same about us?"

"Well that just proves my point doesn't it!" Renge replied triumphantly, "I mean, women are perfectly reasonable; when we know what we want, we go after it. It's men that have to take a perfectly simple situation and go and complicate it."

Somehow Haruhi didn't think that that was quite right, but then again, Renge did seem far more knowledgeable about the opposite sex. Although, how much of that was from practical knowledge and not just gleaned from the strange stories Renge always seemed to be reading, was open to debate. Still, Renge did seem completely assured of her own success.

"Like this guy you have your eye on?" Haruhi asked hesitantly, "How are you going to_ "go after"_ him?"

Renge took a seat, her face screwed up in thought as she began to slowly undo her towering stilettoes. Haruhi felt a chill of apprehension wash over her as she watched the faintest of smiles appear on the blonde's features, which steadily grew as the moments passed, and by the time Renge met her eyes again, it was a full blown manic grin.

"You've just given me the _best_ idea to solve both our man troubles!" She said happily.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Haruhi groaned in trepidation.

"Oh don't be like that; I'm just going to get us both dates to the ball." Renge replied quickly and leaned up to press a finger to Haruhi's lips to stop her complaints, "If Kyoya's not interested then fine, but if he _is_… well you'd be surprised what a little jealousy can do."

"Won't that be pretty unfair to our actual dates?" Haruhi asked carefully.

"Oh don't worry; I'll make it clear you're just going as friends." Renge replied as she replaced the dress on the rack.

"But how does this help you with your mystery guy?" Haruhi asked curiously.

Renge turned and flashed her a wink before making her way back into the changing room to change back into her normal clothes. "You let_ me_ worry about that, you just have to figure out what it is _you_ want."

**Sundays are for sleeping in….or not…**

Haruhi tossed and turned in her sleep as she sank further into her dream. Part of her knew she was dreaming as it was one that she had time and time again, one that came to plague her when she was overly stressed or had too much on her mind. An echo of something that had happened in real life, from a time that Kyoya had tried to teach her a lesson.

She was lying on a bed in a darkened room and a half-clothed Kyoya was hovering over her, the pale light from the rain streaked windows playing over his features and the planes of his bare torso as he leaned down, meeting her eyes with his dark questioning gaze. She could feel his strong fingers wrapped gently around each wrist as he held her arms firmly pinned above her head, and his knees were resting on either side of her hips keeping her effortlessly trapped beneath him, yet she never felt any fear.

Normally in this dream, Kyoya would begin to ask her questions about whatever was preying on her mind, usually questions that she was expecting in her next exam; his voice becoming more demanding if she hesitated before answering, always holding her firmly in place as one question followed another, but never coming any closer. Usually she woke in a panic when she failed to answer one and immediately began studying again.

This time however, there was no pending exam and in this particular dream Kyoya was asking her over and over again what it was she wanted. Each time she didn't answer he inched a little closer and asked the question a little more softly until it was barely more than a whisper. She lay there, unable to move as he came nearer, his body pressing lightly against hers as his warm gaze traced her features, a small smile playing on his lips as he murmured the question again. She tried to shake her head, to say that she didn't know what he meant but she was frozen in place, mesmerised by the dark heat in his eyes.

He seemed to read something in her expression that made his smile widen, and he came closer still, almost allowing his body to mould against her prone from, so close that she could almost imagine she felt the warmth of his breath against her lips as he whispered the question again.

"_What do you want Haruhi?"_

As his lips brushed hers she jolted awake and sat upright in her bed, heart thundering in her chest and skin heated from the phantom pressure of his half-naked body pressed against hers. She breathed heavily, falling back against her pillows, trying to calm her racing heart and shaking her head dazedly as she tried to dispel the dream. But as her fingers pressed against lips that seemed to tingle from the imagined kiss, she felt them form a shy smile. It was becoming all too clear exactly what she wanted.

**Mondays are….well… Mondays are always troublesome.**

Monday morning found an exhausted Kyoya being dragged down a very familiar corridor by an increasingly agitated Tamaki.

"Tamaki, slow down!" Kyoya demanded; his sleep deprived foul humour growing as his friend pulled him along like an errant child, but Tamaki simply ignored him.

"Why did you have to drag me up here of all places, what was wrong with the garden?" Kyoya grumbled in annoyance at being dragged half way around the school already that morning, "Or the dining hall? At least there was coffee there."

"There were too many people." Tamaki replied distractedly, glancing about them as if expecting to see swarms of students appear out of thin air.

Kyoya shook his head at his friend's increasingly odd behaviour as he finally managed to pull his sleeve free from Tamaki's iron grasp; the blonde didn't seem to notice however, merely continued determinedly down the corridor and Kyoya sighed as he followed tiredly in his wake. When they finally arrived at the music room, Tamaki glanced surreptitiously around the hall once more, before pulling open the door and peering in. He heaved a sigh of relief as he saw the room was empty and darted inside, reaching back to pull Kyoya in after him.

"This is getting ridiculous you know. Your grandmother can't just forbid you to have a cell phone." Kyoya muttered darkly as he threw his bag onto a chair before making his way to collapse wearily on one of the sofas. "And I'm certainly not getting up at this ungodly hour every time you feel the need to have a chat."

"Yeah I'm sorry about that; I know how you get when you haven't enough sleep..." Tamaki muttered as he sank into a chair opposite the dark haired boy, seemingly oblivious to the half-hearted glare Kyoya cast his way for suggesting that the young Ootori was anything less than cordial at all times.

"So why did you want to meet so early anyway, and what's with all the secrecy? This isn't a love confession is it?" Kyoya asked jokingly. He looked up, expecting to see Tamaki grin back at him, but felt the smile slip from his lips as he saw his friend staring at him in alarm.

"No of course not!" Tamaki said quickly, his face paling as he glanced away from Kyoya's questioning gaze. "But..."

"But what?" Kyoya asked apprehensively as the blonde fell silent.

"I... I thought," Tamaki began, and then fell silent once more, "there's something..." Tamaki faltered again, running his fingers though his hair as he muttered anxiously to himself. He caught Kyoya's incredulous stare and laughed embarrassedly, offering him an apologetic smile, "I really didn't think it would be this hard..."

He came to his feet, nervously wringing his hands together as he paced back and forth, pausing now and then to glance at Kyoya who was now watching him warily. Finally he took a deep breath and met Kyoya's eyes with an earnest gaze.

"You're my best friend and nothing could change that, right?" he asked in a rush.

Kyoya nodded mutely, his uneasiness growing as he wondered where his friend was going with all this. Tamaki came to stand behind the chair he had been sitting on and grasped the back of it tightly as if bracing himself, before looking over at Kyoya in sheepish apprehension.

"It's so strange, I always thought that you'd already figured it out...that it was just something we didn't talk about…" He offered Kyoya a nervous smile before continuing, "Then last Friday, when you were talking about Haruhi… I realised..."

Kyoya felt an icy chill pass through him as he watched Tamaki fidget silently with the wooden chair back, fearing the next words out of his friends mouth as he waited for the other boy to affirm his interest in Haruhi. He tried to fix his features into a look of polite interest, even as part of him wanted to demand that Tamaki stop talking, to leave the declaration that Kyoya dreaded unsaid.

"…I guess what I'm trying to say is... I'm gay." Tamaki muttered finally, keeping his eyes averted from Kyoya's.

The words were so unexpected that Kyoya didn't really register them for a moment and when he did he began to laugh darkly.

"Oh very funny Tamaki, of course you're gay...and I'm the Queen of Sheba." Kyoya quipped, still chuckling and waiting for Tamaki to join in, but as he caught his friend's distraught expression his laughter faded instantly.

"Oh God, you're serious!" he exclaimed incredulously, and Tamaki flinched at his deafening response.

They stared at each other for a long moment, Kyoya in utter shock, and Tamaki seemingly on the verge of flight. Kyoya held up his hand, both as an apology for his abrupt tone, and a request for a moment to think. He couldn't bring himself to speak, his thoughts in complete turmoil as he stared at his best friend, trying to reconcile this new information with what he had seen of his friend's playboy antics; but none of it made any sense. And all the while Tamaki stared back at him anxiously.

"Since when?" Kyoya asked in a calmer tone and Tamaki visibly relaxed, rolling his eyes as he flashed him a sardonic grin.

"Oh I just decided over the weekend that girls aren't for me." He said smilingly, but as Kyoya stared back at him gravely he shrugged self-consciously. "I've always liked girls and I guess they've always liked me, but I've just never been _attracted_ to them."

Kyoya removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes fiercely as he tried to order his thoughts. "So why were you so adamant to set up the host club? If you weren't interested in girls… none of this makes any sense Tamaki!"

Tamaki came to sit in the chair once more, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together as he leaned forward to regard Kyoya seriously.

"Can you imagine being told that your entire future rested in the hands of an old woman, who was so entrenched in her traditional beliefs that it would take a miracle before she would accept an illegitimate child as her heir?" He asked quietly, and Kyoya shook his head slowly. "Now imagine that that child was gay… you can hardly think that she would be thrilled. So what should I have done? Pick out some naïve girl and string her along? Pretend to be interested in her, just to keep my grandmother happy?"

Kyoya remained silent and Tamaki leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes tiredly, "I had hoped that if she got to know me, she might grow to like me or at least be a little more accepting. But when I met her I realised that it was just wishful thinking. Even now she's only accepted me as the heir as there is no other alternative if she wants to keep the company in the Suoh name." He flashed Kyoya a helpless smile as he continued.

"I didn't know what to do. But when I heard about the host clubs in some of the cities, I thought…why not try that at Ouran!" He said abashedly, "I never thought it would get so popular really, but it certainly kept my Grandmother distracted, and kept her from finding out the truth about me."

Kyoya leaned back on the sofa, eying Tamaki in half-irritated admiration. "You certainly fooled us all." He said with a smile, trying to hide the hurt he felt at his friend's omissions.

But as always, Tamaki seemed to be able to read emotions better than Kyoya ever could. He leaned forward, grasping Kyoya's arm, "Honestly, I thought that you would have known, you always seem to see everything…"

"Not this!" Kyoya admonished and Tamaki offered another apologetic smile.

"I guess I've just gotten really good at hiding it." He said quietly, and a strained silence filled the room.

"So I'm the only one who knows?" Kyoya asked finally, and watched curiously as Tamaki released his arm and sat back, blushing furiously for the first time that morning.

"Well… You're the first person I've told… but… someone else figured it out first." Tamaki said haltingly, avoiding Kyoya's gaze once more.

"Who? How?" Kyoya asked, annoyed that someone had outsmarted him.

"Ah, I can't tell you _who_ it is, it's really not my secret to tell," Tamaki replied apologetically, "but as for how… he and I are in the same boat, and I guess he just recognised something in me…" He fell silent once more, a faint smile playing on his lips as he gazed out the window.

Kyoya could feel his skin heat in unfamiliar embarrassment as he tried to continue supportively. "So you and this guy are…an item?"

"No!" Tamaki replied quickly, but then blushed again, "Maybe…I don't know…. we've never really talked about it, and since I've moved into the main house, I haven't really seen him at all."

The two boys sat in uncomfortable silence for a long moment, both lost in their own thoughts and then Kyoya looked up.

"It's not Mori is it?" He asked suddenly.

Tamaki stared at him in consternation; "No, he's not gay!" he replied quickly and then laughed "Anyway, I don't think tall, dark and silent is my type."

"Well I'm safe then." Kyoya said with a smirk.

"Oh why Kyoya, don't you love me anymore?" Tamaki asked, dramatically clutching at his chest in mock despair.

The two eyed each other for a moment and then burst out laughing, the strange tension between them finally dissipating as their laughter echoed around the room.

Tamaki's mirth trailed off as he eyed Kyoya seriously, "Are you really ok with all this?"

Kyoya shrugged, "Yeah… I guess I was just surprised; it's not often that someone catches me out like that." He threw the blond a half-hearted glare and Tamaki smiled sheepishly.

Kyoya stilled as another thought struck him, "But what about Haruhi?"

"What about her?" Tamaki asked quickly, "Is she ok?"

"She's fine," Kyoya assured him, "But shouldn't you tell her about your… change of heart?" He finished lamely.

"Change of heart?" Tamaki asked confusedly.

"Tamaki, you've been fawning over the girl for the last year." Kyoya said exasperatedly, "Don't you think that she might have thought you were interested in her?" He froze as he watched Tamaki laugh uproariously at the thought.

"What made you think that?" he asked still grinning "Haruhi is one of the smartest people I know! She has already told me in no uncertain terms that she could never imagine falling for someone as _frivolous_ as me, and that she would pity the poor girl that finally fell for my dubious charms."

Tamaki grinned in appreciation of Haruhi's typical forthrightness, but Kyoya had frozen in place as his friend's words sank in.

'_She was never interested in him?' _he thought dazedly, an incredulous smile forming on his lips as he realised that ever obstacle that had kept him from pursuing her had just been wiped away in the space of one morning.

'_Who's to say she would fall for you either?'_ Kyoya frowned at the unpleasant thought. It was true, just because he had become infatuated with her, didn't mean that she would return those feelings. But if there was one thing an Ootori knew how to do, it was how to negotiate potential mergers to the best advantage of both parties.

He rubbed his chin distractedly, as he thought out various scenarios and possibilities of how to convince Haruhi that he might be a worthy recipient of her affections. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that Tamaki was watching him curiously, a delighted grin forming on the blonde's face as he guessed the direction of his friend's thoughts.

"Oh, I think she would need someone far more serious than me." Tamaki said playfully, watching as Kyoya's hand stilled its repetitive motion, "Perhaps Mori? After all, as you suggested earlier, he is the quiet, intelligent type." Kyoya looked up sharply and Tamaki laughed at the dismayed look on his face,

"I see I'm not the only who's been hiding something." He said excitedly, "How long have _you_ been interested in Haruhi?"

For one brief moment Kyoya contemplated denying it, but as he saw the eagerness in Tamaki's eyes he sighed, realising that if Tamaki could trust him with his biggest secret, surely Kyoya could do the same. Perhaps Tamaki could even help, as he had always been the most romantic of the hosts, one area of expertise where Kyoya thought himself sorely lacking. As Tamaki watched expectantly, Kyoya settled back in his chair once more, wondering where to start…

OoOoOoO

Haruhi had barely made it through the classroom door when she felt an arm slip under her own and cinch tightly around her waist. She looked up in surprise to see a beaming Renge staring back down at her.

"Good morning!" The blonde cried cheerily, leaving Haruhi to wonder grumpily where she got all her energy from at this early hour.

"Morning," she murmured as she eyed Renge askance, "you're very cheerful this morning. What's going on?"

"Oh nothing much," Renge replied breezily, "I was just waiting for you, so I could put my fabulous plan into action."

'_Oh no, this can't be good.'_ Haruhi thought as she saw Renge's face light up in a manic grin.

"Listen Renge, I've been thinking…" Haruhi muttered as the taller girl turned to lead her towards the back of the room. "…perhaps you shouldn't…"

"Good morning boys!" Renge called, completely ignoring Haruhi's protests as she greeted the Hitachiin twins who were lounging against their desks.

"Hey Renge, Hey Haruhi!" The boys echoed, coming to their feet as they girls approached.

"How was your weekend?" Hikaru continued, as he looked at Haruhi questioningly.

"Um, it was…" Haruhi began, only to feel the arm around her tighten slightly.

"Oh we had a fabulous time!" Renge cut in, "Haruhi and I went shopping and we both got the cutest dresses for the spring ball!"

Haruhi looked up at her in consternation. Renge may have purchased numerous outfits that day, but Haruhi had come home with nothing to show for her many hours trailing though numerous boutiques, except a nasty headache.

Renge cast her a meaningful glance before turning back to the twins and smiling brightly. "Speaking off the ball, Haruhi and I thought that we would do you both the great honour of allowing you to be our dates."

'_What? Your great plan was for the twin's to take us?' _Haruhi wondered in confusion.

She watched as Kaoru froze, his eyes widening in surprise even as his brother leaned forward excitedly. "That's a great idea!" Hikaru said eagerly, a playful smile on his face as he offered Haruhi a gentlemanly bow, "It would be my pleasure to escort you Haruhi."

Renge's arm suddenly disappeared from around Haruhi's waist and she glanced up to see the taller girls face was now set in disappointment. She met Haruhi's eyes for a moment, before looking away embarrassedly and suddenly a number of things clicked into place in Haruhi's mind.

'_So this is your mystery man Renge?' _

"No!" Haruhi said quickly, and Hikaru looked up in surprise. "Ah, I just mean you don't have to escort me… we should all just go together… as friends…"

The words hung awkwardly in the air for a moment as the other three stared back at her, Renge flashed her a grateful smile, while Kaoru seemed to sigh in relief as he readily agreed to her idea, but Hikaru seemed… strangely disappointed.

"Oh okay," he muttered finally, turning away as he took his seat, leaving her with the impression that she had hurt his feelings with her abrupt refusal.

She stood aside as Kaoru and Renge began discussing the finer details of the ball, but as Haruhi watched, she saw Renge's eyes drift repeatedly to where Hikaru sat in silence, flipping through the pages of his French book. She could see the faint sadness in the blonde's eyes as they traced the silent twin's features, and the dejected set of Hikaru's shoulders as he sat hunched over his book. And somehow Haruhi felt that it was all her fault.

'_Oh I just knew this was a bad idea.'_ Haruhi thought disconsolately, finally taking her seat as the teacher came in, _'So much for men being the only ones to complicate things…'_

TBC


	10. Chapter 10: Tangled Webs

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran or its characters.**

**AN: Sorry for the delay in updating. I was kept away a lot longer than expected and had no access to my PC, but I'm back now... obviously… *laughs***

**Thanks and welcome to everyone who favorited/followed since the pervious chapter; and I'm really grateful to the people who took the time to review/PM. **

**As always please drop a review/PM, they always make me smile... Cheers Cass.**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Tangled Webs. **

The moment the lunch hour bell sounded on Wednesday and their teacher had made his way out of the classroom, Kaoru pushed his chair back from his desk and reached his arms over his head, groaning in relief as he stretched muscles that had become stiff from sitting still for so long.

"Finally! I thought that class would never end," He said with a grin as he turned towards the others, "and I'm starving, who's coming for lunch?"

Hikaru nodded mutely as he climbed to his feet and Kaoru had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at his still sulking brother. Instead he turned to Haruhi but she was already pulling an obento from her satchel and was holding it in a suspiciously tight grip.

"No, I have my lunch with me, and you are not getting your hands on it this time." She said determinedly, but smiled as Kaoru held his hands up in reluctant acceptance. He turned his questioning gaze on Renge, expecting her typically enthusiastic agreement, but blinked in astonishment as he saw that she too was pulling a boxed lunch from her bag.

She saw his look of surprise and her lips quirked into a smile, "It seems our little Haruhi has made quite the impression over the past week; she's even managed to make homemade lunches fashionable." She gestured around the room and Kaoru turned to see that a number of the other students were also remaining at their desks and were tucking into various elaborate obentos while pretending, quite unsuccessfully, not to be paying any attention to Haruhi or the others.

"My, my Haruhi, you've become quite the trendsetter!" He exclaimed, laughing as he saw Haruhi's barely contained annoyance at having her usually peaceful lunch hour invaded by so many chattering students.

"Oh absolutely," she muttered sarcastically, "soon I'll have them all drinking instant coffee and only shopping at commoner markets."

Hikaru snorted in laughter and Kaoru glanced up at him in surprise; for a moment he saw the familiar humorous glint in his brother's eyes, but Hikaru's smile soon faded and his eyes regained that same shuttered cast that they had carried for the past week. Kaoru felt his irritation at his brother grow and released a dejected sigh.

"Well, we'll leave you ladies to enjoy your lunch," he said with forced cheerfulness, trying not to let his brother's mood affect him, "come on Hikaru."

He turned to make his way from the room and felt rather than heard his twin come to walk beside him, but as the silence grew between them, so did his annoyance.

"How long are you actually planning on keeping this up?" He asked finally as they entered the dining hall.

"What are you talking about?" Hikaru asked dully.

"This latest sulking episode of yours." Kaoru replied, talking a seat and reaching for one of the menus.

"I'm _not_ sulking." Hikaru muttered petulantly and Kaoru had to supress a hiss of irritation.

"Really?" He asked in a deceptively calm voice, "Is that why I've barely heard two words from you since we all agreed to go to the dance together?"

Hikaru's face flushed with embarrassment but he said nothing, and at that moment a waiter appeared beside them to take their order. Kaoru waited until he left before turning to face his brother determinedly.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on in that head of yours or should I just make an educated guess." He asked with a strained smile. Hikaru remained stubbornly silent, picking up one of his chopsticks and fidgeting with it nervously.

"Okay, guessing it is... I wonder could it possibly be that you're upset Haruhi wanted us to go to the ball as a group instead of only being _your_ date?" Kaoru pondered aloud and watched as Hikaru's hands stilled their restless movements and he finally raised his eyes to meet Kaoru's uncertainly.

"Why do you look so surprised? You weren't exactly subtle about it." Kaoru huffed in exasperation. "Did you really think you were going to make her change her mind by sulking all week?"

As he saw Hikaru's cheeks darken further with embarrassment, he felt a brief stab of guilt and continued in a gentler voice, "Why didn't you just ask her out sooner if you're interested in her? You've know about this ball for ages!"

Hikaru's eyes flashed with anger at Kaoru's condescending tone, "How could _I_ ask her out when _you_ like her too?"

Kaoru stared at him in consternation, "What…?"

"Well its true isn't it?" Hikaru demanded, "That's why you've been acting strangely, right? You snipe at me for keeping things to myself lately, but you haven't talked to me in weeks; not like you used to..."

Kaoru felt a chill of uneasiness wash over him as he realised that he had not been as adept at hiding his recent preoccupations from his brother as he thought. It was soon followed by a wave of guilt as he realised that not only had he made Hikaru worry, but his brother had jumped to entirely the wrong conclusion and was putting his own happiness on hold for Kaoru's sake.

"Hikaru, I don't…" he began, but Hikaru was already continuing furiously.

"Of course I wanted to ask her out, but I couldn't, not when you were obviously mooning over her too…"

"I wasn't…" Kaoru tried again but Hikaru was in full flow.

"We always like the same things; of course we would fall for the same girl…"

Kaoru felt a surge of anger at Hikaru's assumption and banged his hand loudly against the table to cut his brother off. "Believe it or not Hikaru the entire world does not revolve around you… or Haruhi!" He said angrily. "I'm not obliged to always like the same things you do; just stop trying to make those decisions for me…"

Hikaru was staring at him incredulously and Kaoru felt a surge of embarrassment heat his skin as he realised how uncharacteristic it was for him to raise his voice against his brother. He glanced quickly around the hall and saw that quite a few of the other students were staring over at them curiously.

He took a deep breath and continued in a lower tone, "I'm sorry if you got the impression that I was interested in her, but let me assure you that I'm not, so you can stop using me as an excuse to avoid dealing with your own feelings."

He saw the vague glint of hope that appeared in Hikaru's eyes and released a sigh of relief that was very short-lived as his brother furrowed his brow thoughtfully.

"If it's not Haruhi, then what _has_ been going on with you lately?"

"We're not talking about me," Kaoru said haltingly as he looked away, "we were discussing you and Haruhi."

"Not anymore." Hikaru replied determinedly.

Kaoru turned to meet his brother's questioning gaze and for a brief moment he contemplated just laying all his recent worries and feelings on the table. After all, he had always been able to share everything with his brother; surely Hikaru would understand? But as he recalled his twin's usual petulant behaviour when something upset him he felt a knot of apprehension form in his stomach. What if Hikaru couldn't accept that Kaoru didn't want the same things he did?

He realised that Hikaru was still regarding him questioningly and he forced a smile into place, wagging a reproving finger before his brother's face, "But your crush is much more interesting than what's going on with me!" He laughed, hoping that Hikaru would take the bait.

He saw Hikaru's eyes narrow in displeasure and cut in before he could force the issue. "Honestly Hikaru, it's nothing important," he searched for something to latch onto that his brother would believe, "I just miss the host club, and hanging out with the other guys." A very small part of the truth, but he hoped that Hikaru would accept it.

Hikaru stared at him searchingly for a long moment as the waiter returned with their food and Kaoru strove to keep his nonchalant guise in place as he picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.

"So, are you going to tell Haruhi that you like her?" he asked carefully and held his breath, hoping that it would be enough to distract his brother from asking any further questions. He released a silent shaky sigh as he saw the shy smile that crept over Hikaru's features and knew that, at least for now, his own secrets were safe.

"Maybe," Hikaru replied as he began to tuck into his own meal, "I could do it at the ball, I was thinking that…"

Kaoru smiled gently as he listened to Hikaru list the many ways he hoped the ball would go, and his plans to woo Haruhi and tried to ignore the niggling feelings of guilt he felt for the secrets he kept. After all his brothers happiness came first...

**OoOoOoO**

That same afternoon found Tamaki and Kyoya sprawled on the grass beneath the shade of an Ume tree as they ate their lunch, having quickly abandoned the crowded and noisy dining hall, in favor of the unusually warm spring sunshine and the relatively empty gardens. Tamaki was leaning back against the tree's trunk, one leg bent before him and Kyoya's iPad propped against his thigh, where he could easily read it as he alternated between eating, flicking through various web-sites and chattering at Kyoya.

"…chocolates? Or maybe you should bring flowers…" Tamaki mused, one finger trailing down the screen as his eyes scanned the article he had found online. "…roses are always good; unless Haruhi has a favourite flower. Do you know?"

"Hmm?" Kyoya murmured distractedly and Tamaki looked up to see that his friend's attention was no longer focused on his own lunch or what Tamaki had been talking about for the past ten minutes. Instead he was plucking absently at the grass that lay between them and watching the small groups of students making their way through the courtyard, as if he were looking for someone.

"Hey, pay attention!" Tamaki groused, dropping the tablet on the grass so he could reach over to smack Kyoya across the back of his head. "You can moon over Haruhi later; we have to convince her to go out with you first."

"I was not _mooning_ over anyone." Kyoya hissed in annoyance, glaring at Tamaki as he rubbed gingerly at the injured spot. "As foreign a concept as it may be to you, I was merely thinking."

"Of course you were," Tamaki scoffed as he gathered up the iPad once more and settled back against the tree, "I should have guessed really, as you normally wreak devastation on the local plant life whenever you have an idle thought."

Kyoya regarded him in confusion and Tamaki grinned as he nodded pointedly to the ground between them. Kyoya followed his gaze there and finally noticed the large patch of bare earth that had appeared in the meticulously manicured lawn and the small pile of uprooted grass that lay beside his own leg. He glanced quickly down at his hands and frowned in annoyance as he saw the few incriminating blades of grass that still clung to his slender fingers.

Ignoring the blonde's laughter he brushed his hands clean and slid his bag over to cover the obvious damage as he asked, "What exactly was I meant to be paying attention to anyway?"

"To me, of course!" Tamaki said smugly, taking a sip of his soda, "How else are you going to win Haruhi over, if not with my expertise?"

"I thought you spent the last two years trying _not_ to have any girls fall for you." Kyoya said drily as he turned to face him, folding his legs gracefully beneath him so he could sit comfortably cross-legged, "How exactly is that level of expertise meant to help me?"

Tamaki scowled at him for a moment, but couldn't contain his excitement for long as thoughts of playing cupid for two of his best friends ran riot in his internal theatre. Ever since Kyoya had unintentionally revealed his feelings for Haruhi two days ago, Tamaki had spent every free moment trying to wrangle any piece of information he could from his reticent friend about what had happened between them. Kyoya would never lower his guard enough to actually put words to his feelings of course, but Tamaki could easily see from his friend's unusually distracted air and thoughtful silences that the ebony haired boy was clearly besotted. And, although Tamaki's current situation had caused his own tentatively burgeoning romance to grind to an unfortunate stand-still, it didn't mean that he couldn't use the romantic expertise he had gained from many months of host club activities to help his best friend get a love life of his own. He broke free of those thoughts as he realised that Kyoya was still watching him with one eyebrow raised quizzically.

"Well, obviously I was too charming for my own good, since even my best efforts couldn't stop them falling for me." He sighed dramatically with a feigned frown, but laughed as he saw Kyoya roll his eyes at him.

"Oh? And I'm sure it really had nothing to do with your family's money or business connections." Kyoya muttered sardonically as he removed his glasses to polish them, "Let's face it Tamaki, the most _enamoured_ girls who attended the host club were there to improve their own or their families standing in society by being associated with one of us. I think it had very little to do with our charm."

"True," Tamaki agreed, laughing softly as he ran a hand through his golden hair, "but my dashing good looks certainly didn't hurt!"

"Oh absolutely not," Kyoya agreed with a smirk as he slid his glasses back in place, "What girl could resist the combination of money, family connection and good looks?"

Tamaki's laughter trailed off and he eyed Kyoya seriously. "Haruhi could," he said quietly with a small shrug, "she's the only one in this school that is completely uninterested in any of that superficial stuff. She actually liked us _despite _it all."

Kyoya nodded with a barely detectable smile gracing his lips, "And that's half the problem, isn't it," he said pensively, "How do I convince a girl, who is completely unimpressed by everything that I was taught to deem important that I could be a viable option?"

"Don't tell me that the great Kyoya Ootori is feeling unsure of himself?" Tamaki asked playfully, and saw an all too familiar glint appear in his friend's eyes and realised that Kyoya was actually relishing the challenge of winning Haruhi over.

"In normal circumstances, when I know all the variables and probable reactions, I can act with a reasonable expectation of success…" Kyoya raised a hand to massage his temple as he deliberated aloud, "…but Haruhi rarely reacts the way anyone would expect. I just want to take the time to learn what those variables may be, to ensure the best outcome.

"You're talking about it like she's a business acquisition Kyoya." Tamaki frowned over at him, a little disheartened and Kyoya's overly analytical approach to matters of the heart, "She's a girl you like, not an object. The only _variable_ you should be concerned about is if she's interested in you too, and there's only one way to find that out."

"So you suggest I just go and ask her out?" Kyoya asked slowly.

"That would be the next _logical_ step, unless you want to skip straight to a proposal?" Tamaki grinned as he gestured to the iPad that was still resting in his lap, and the article he had been reading, "So… chocolates, or roses?" He laughed at the dark glare that Kyoya threw his way, but his laughter waned as he watched his friend's features become set in a thoughtful frown again.

"Okay, no chocolates or flowers, but you are going to ask her out, right? I mean, it seems pretty obvious to me at least…" Tamaki continued questioningly as the silence grew too long, "…if you really _do_ like her that is…"

Kyoya sighed heavily as he inclined his head in acknowledgement.

"She's… exceptional," he replied, shaking his head slightly as if trying to find the right words, "she always has been of course; but she's also ambitious yet unassuming, intelligent, beautiful… everything I could want in a partner, except..."

"…except she's a commoner." Tamaki finished for him as he fell silent and Kyoya nodded mutely, oblivious to how Tamaki's features darkened in annoyance at his silent admission.

"I really thought after all our time together in the club; even you had grown enough to see past those prejudices." Tamaki muttered angrily.

Kyoya looked up in surprise to meet his friend's accusing glare and chuckled softly, raising a placating hand as he saw Tamaki's scowl darken further.

"Don't be so ridiculous, I _don't_ put any stock in those prejudices anymore. How could I, after spending any time at all in Haruhi's company." He said calmly, "Our breeding doesn't make us better than commoner's, only more fortunate. However, her status does raise some other issues."

Tamaki's brows drew together in confusion, "If you don't care about it then why would you allow Haruhi's status to stop you…"

"Just because I've changed my views doesn't mean my father has." Kyoya interrupted quickly. "You can hardly think he would be impressed if I started dating a commoner; not when he has made it very clear that he judges every move I make only on how it reflects on him or the corporation."

He sighed running his fingers through his hair, "If Haruhi _were_ to agree to go out with me my father could choose to make things very difficult for her. I'm not willing to put her in that position; especially if it could mean an end to her studies here at Ouran or her future plans to become a lawyer."

"Don't you think you owe Haruhi the opportunity to make that decision for herself?" Tamaki asked quietly.

"It's inevitably her decision of course," Kyoya shrugged with a slight smile, "but that doesn't mean that I can't take the time to highlight Haruhi's winning attributes to my father. He may be biased against commoners, but I'm sure I can find a way to ensure he sees what an exception to the rule she is. To be more precise I hope to find a way for both he and Haruhi to see the merits of such an association."

Tamaki smiled at his friend's typically adept scheming, and was about to reply when a door banging closed across the concourse drew his attention away. He watched as the familiar auburn haired forms of the Hitachiin twins strode from the dining hall, arms slung about each other's shoulders, and laughing loudly as they chatted together, oblivious to the curious glances they received from some of the other students.

Tamaki raised his hand in greeting, smiling broadly as Kaoru happened to glance in their direction, he saw a matching grin form on the younger twin's face and watched as he nudged his brother in the ribs alerting him to their presence before beginning to make his way over. Tamaki straightened in anticipation, but just then the bell signalling the end of the lunch hour sounded and he saw the twins falter in their approach. Hikaru muttered something to his brother and Kaoru nodded sadly, flashing Tamaki an apologetic smile as he turned to follow his brother back to class.

Tamaki dropped his hand back to his lap, sighing dejectedly as he watched them disappear amongst the other students that were leaving the courtyard. It had been weeks since he had been able to talk to any of the other hosts, and although he would always be grateful that Kyoya was in his class and they could still hang out, he had to admit that he was missing the others terribly, and one far more than the rest.

He turned back to see that Kyoya had come to his feet and was gathering the remnants of his lunch to dispose of it in a nearby bin, before dropping the empty tray on one of the benches for one of the school staff to collect later. Tamaki smiled to see the familiar calculating look on his friend's face that implied that he was working on a way to win both Haruhi and his father over and was sure to find a solution soon.

"There's something else you may want to keep in mind Kyoya," Tamaki said with a hint of a mischievous grin forming as he too climbed to his feet, "you may not have as much time as you think to catch Haruhi's attention."

Kyoya looked over at him curiously as he slung his bag over his shoulder, "And why's that?"

"Now that her secret is out, don't you think that there will be many more of Ouran's eligible young men lining up to ask her out? Especially with this ball coming up on Friday, I mean what if she has a date already?" Kyoya's face darkened in annoyance at the thought, and Tamaki shook his head at his friend's unusual short-sightedness.

"As you pointed out last week, she has already garnered quite a few admirers. Even if she doesn't have a date, I don't think she'll be lacking in dance partners. In fact I even can see one from here that has been waiting for his opportunity for quite some time." He nodded across the courtyard at the flame haired form of Kasanoda who was chatting with other members of his gardening club as they too made their way to class and Kyoya eyed the red-headed boy darkly for a long moment.

Tamaki reached out and rested a hand on Kyoya's shoulder, pulling the dark-haired boy from his thoughts, "Just don't spend too long, planning the perfect way to get everything you want… only to find you've already missed your chance."

He tried not to dwell on how well those words described his own situation too and turned to make his way to class, leaving Kyoya to follow in pensive silence.

**OoOoOoO**

Renge stared out the window of her car, oblivious to the passing scenery of her homeward journey as she tapped a stylus thoughtfully against her lips, before glancing down at what she had already written in her diary that day.

_Wednesday 24__th__._

_Ugh, this week has been BORING! I can't wait for the ball on Friday to liven things up…_

For a moment she contemplated erasing the less than accurate words, but then started typing again.

…_okay, so this week hasn't exactly been boring, but then again, nothing has gone exactly to plan. _

_So first, my great plan to get to go to the ball with Hikaru backfired pretty spectacularly. I had a niggling feeling that he __might__ like Haruhi, but wow, I really didn't expect him to just jump at the opportunity and ask her out before I even finished speaking... Really not my finest hour, but I tried to put a brave face on it; I really must not be as good an actress as I thought though, as Haruhi saw straight through it and came to my rescue, and now we're all going as a group instead...which should have made me happy right? _

_Well it didn't… because then Hikaru gave us the silent treatment all week, which was pretty unpleasant. But I guess Kaoru must have gotten through to him today somehow, as he was back to his usual chatty gorgeous self this afternoon… unfortunately that same chatty gorgeous boy only seems to have eyes for Haruhi… and the worst part is, she doesn't even realise that he fancies her and she's so oblivious to the effect she has on him that I can't even be mad at her for it… _

_What are the odds that __both__ of the boys I've had crushes on since coming to Ouran only have eyes for my new (and newly female) best friend. Not that I care about Kyoya anymore, but Hikaru…_

Renge's feature's creased into a rarely seen frown and she dropped the device back into her lap as she ran her fingers through her ash blonde hair, trying to ignore the sting of disappointment that ran through her veins. She took a deep breath, straightening her shoulders as she fixed her confident smile back in place.

_Haruhi has actually been great since she found out that I like Hika, in fact she spent most of lunchtime today trying to convince me to just tell him. And maybe she's right; maybe if he knew that there was someone else out there that could see him for who he is, someone who can tell his cheeky grin from Kaoru's a mile away; or knows that his voice is just that little bit deeper than his brother's; or that he pretends to be worse at English than he actually is, because he knows that Kaoru loves discussing Shakespeare… And maybe if he happened to see that certain someone looking particularly fabulous on Friday night in my new Jason Wu gown…that may or may not show just a little bit of leg; then he might…. _

_Hmmm, okay Renge…..calm down, let's not get ahead of ourselves…_

_Speaking of dresses, Haruhi is __still__refusing to come over to my house, even though I have the perfect gown picked out for her to wear to the ball. I think she's worried that I'm going to force her into something ridiculous (as if __**I**__ would own anything that wasn't utterly gorgeous), but I called Ranka last night and he promised that he would help me "kidnap" her tomorrow after school so I can have Marie make the necessary alterations. Haruhi is going to wear that dress, __even if I have to force her into it myself__! And if that little number doesn't catch Kyoya's eye I don't know what will._

_And, on the topic of the youngest Ootori… We haven't seen Kyoya all week. I keep telling Haruhi that we have to actually leave the classroom if she wants to see her little crush; but she keeps acting like she doesn't know what I'm talking about…yeah Haruhi… you just keep telling yourself that… Well at least she won't be able to avoid him at the ball._

Renge looked up to see that they had arrived outside her house and quickly finished her diary entry, before throwing the tablet back in her bag.

_One things for certain… Friday night is certainly going to be interesting…_

* * *

**AN: A number of people have suggested lately that I change the rating back to T (which I've done), until I actually get around to publishing the M chapters later in the storyline. Or that I post the M chapters as separate one-shots. I haven't decided which route I'm going to take, but don't worry I still plan to write them, I'm just getting there a lot slower that I planned. But you won't be waiting forever… Cass**


	11. Chapter 11: Declarations of Intent

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran or its Characters.**

**AN: Thanks to those who favorited and followed since the previous chapter. And as always a very special thanks to those who take the time to review. **

**Chapter 11: Declarations of Intent.**

**Thursday:**

Ranka rested comfortably on a zaisu in the apartment's small living room, glancing occasionally at the compact mirror he held in one hand as he expertly applied eyeliner with the other. The rest of his attention was focused on the small television ensconced in the corner which was currently showing his favourite soap opera; a show that had quickly become his guilty pleasure as he prepared to go to work each evening. Of course this was something he would firmly deny if anyone had ever asked; especially after seeing Haruhi's confounded reaction to the "frivolous" drama.

His hand stilled in its application and he leaned forward, watching in trepidation as his favourite character was about to walk in on her husband frantically kissing another woman, who just happened to be her own best friend.

'_What a bitch!'_ He thought acidly, throwing the "best friend" a dirty look, all the while secretly delighting in the scandal of it all.

He had just begun to absently apply the eyeliner once more as he watched the drama unfold, when a knock came at the apartment door and he glanced up in surprise, hand slipping and etching a fine dark line down one cheek.

Cursing, he came to his feet, quickly trying to rub the black streak away while simultaneously turning off the television and putting his makeup aside before making his way to the door. He sighed, disappointed at missing the end of his show, but took a brief glance in the hallway mirror ensuring that all traces of the mark were gone as he straightened his clothes and fixed a polite smile in place before pulling open the door. The smile quickly widened into a genuine grin as he saw who was standing in the doorway.

"Kyoya!" He exclaimed, "Twice in one week, this is a pleasant surprise!"

"Good evening Ranka-san. You're looking lovely as always." Kyoya replied courteously with his familiar half-smile.

"Ah Kyoya, ever the gentleman!" Ranka replied, grinning as he stepped back gesturing for him to enter, but the younger man hesitated.

"I was just hoping to speak to Haruhi for a moment, if you don't mind." Kyoya hedged.

"Oh, you've just missed her." Ranka said apologetically, "She's gone to Renge's to be fitted for her dress for the dance tomorrow night. I don't know when she'll be back."

"I see." Kyoya replied slowly and Ranka was perturbed at the flash of disappointment that flickered in his eyes; something that was quite unusual in the typically reticent boy. In fact, it almost looked like…

Kyoya had fallen into thoughtful silence, not seeming to notice that Ranka was now blatantly staring at him, taking in his distracted frown and curiously smart appearance. He had obviously changed before coming here as he was no longer wearing his uniform; instead he was dressed in a tailored jacket over a tee-shirt and dark jeans, which was certainly more formal than the clothing he normally wore whenever he had previously called over.

Ranka's eyes slowly widened in startled comprehension as he came to see Kyoya in a new light; recognising the neat clothes, slightly nervous stance and that interested look in his eyes for something he remembered all too well from when he had begun to date Kotoko. This was a young man calling on a girl that he liked… and that girl just happened to be Ranka's own precious _teenage_ daughter.

He faltered for a moment as the realisation sank in, but soon recovered, reaching out to grasp Kyoya's arm and pull him into the apartment, closing the door resolutely behind them and leaning back against it for a moment.

"Why don't you come in out of that heat and I'll get you something to drink." He said with a dark smile. Kyoya regarded him in surprise, suddenly looking a little unsettled and Ranka pressed his advantage, dragging him into the kitchen and pulling out a chair.

"Have a seat," Ranka said genially, practically pushing Kyoya down into the chair and leaning ominously over him, "Is coffee ok, or would you prefer something cold?"

"Water would be fine." Kyoya replied quickly, attempting to appear unfazed, but Ranka caught the slight apprehensive edge to his voice and suddenly understood why Kotoko's father had enjoyed giving him such a hard time whenever he had called over. No matter how much you may like or admire a friend of your daughter; if he suddenly turned up at your door, dressed to impress and looking interested… well a territorial instinct just kicked in. Ranka felt a surge of paternal supremacy and grinned mischievously to himself as he turned away to fill a glass of water, he stifled it again as he turned back to frown sternly at the seemingly relaxed form of Kyoya and handed him the drink.

"So, what brings you here this evening Kyoya-_kun_?" Ranka asked, emphasising the patronizing term he had never used with him before.

Shock flitted across Kyoya's features for the briefest of moments and Ranka could practically see the younger man's mind racing as he registered his challenging tone. But as he watched, he felt a grudging respect as Kyoya sat up straighter in his seat, resting the glass on the table as he raised his unflinching grey eyes to meet Ranka's questioning gaze steadily.

"I was actually hoping to ask Haruhi to accompany me to the ball tomorrow night," he said calmly with a gracious smile, "with your approval of course."

"Is that so?" Ranka asked conversationally, "Well I'm afraid you've left it a bit late, she already has an escort to the dance."

"I see." Kyoya's brows furrowed ever so slightly as he crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair, his polite smile never faltering, "May I ask who has that pleasure?"

Ranka almost smiled to see the young man attempting to hide how disconcerted he was, but decided to put him out of his misery, "I believe that she and Renge are going with the Hitachiin boys."

He expected that Kyoya would have been relieved to hear that she was merely going with her friends, but if anything his frown deepened and Ranka suddenly found himself wondering if perhaps, soon, Kyoya wouldn't be the only suitor he would find loitering on his doorstep. He pondered on which of the twins it might be, before his mind baulked at the idea that it might be _both_ of them. He quickly pulled himself away from that disturbing thought as he heard Kyoya mutter something to himself.

"What was that?" Ranka asked distractedly.

Kyoya shook his head, smiling ironically. "I was simply marvelling at the fact that Tamaki can be quite astute at times."

"Really?" Ranka asked in astonishment as he poured himself a glass of water too, "And what words of wisdom did the golden boy wonder utter now?"

Kyoya eyed him askance for a moment before he broke into a reluctant chuckle. "He merely pointed out that sometimes all the planning in the world will come to nothing if your timing is off."

"And what _plans_ did you have exactly?" Ranka asked pointedly as he came to sit opposite him.

Kyoya grimaced slightly at the direct question and rested his elbows on the table, threading his fingers together and resting his chin on his extended thumbs, his lips pressed against forefingers as he regarded Ranka cautiously.

"This is certainly not the conversation I expected to have this evening," Kyoya smiled wryly as he lifted his face slightly to speak, "but I expect it is best to express my intentions now." Ranka watched him expectantly and Kyoya leaned back in the chair to face him openly.

"I have recently come to care for your daughter a great deal," he said carefully and eyed Ranka as if expecting a rebuttal, but the older man remained silent and Kyoya continued earnestly, "and I hope that, in time, she may come to care for me too."

Ranka felt laughter bubbling up within him at Kyoya's serious formality, but schooled his features into stern contemplation as he stared at the young man for a long moment.

"And you expect me to agree to this?" He asked slowly.

"Frankly Ranka-san, as much as I may hope for your approval, I'm more concerned with getting Haruhi's." Kyoya maintained his solemn façade, but Ranka could see the glint of wry humour in his eyes.

"Well, at least you have your priorities straight." He said with a reluctant chuckle. Kyoya cast him a questioning look and Ranka waved a dismissive hand, "Oh it's not that I_ don't_ approve of you Kyoya, you've certainly always seemed courteous and level-headed," he flashed the younger man a sly grin, "but thankfully, I think my little girl is too focused on her studies and future plans to be distracted by _boys_ right now."

Ranka watched as Kyoya gritted his teeth slightly at his supercilious implications, before the younger man met his gaze steadily.

"But if she has no objections, then neither would you?" Kyoya asked determinedly.

"No, after all if Haruhi has set her mind on something, nothing I could say would change her mind." Ranka said reluctantly and was surprised at the almost victorious smile that graced Kyoya's face at his assertion.

"That's good to know. I had actually expected threats of paternal vengeance if I dared ask her out." Kyoya said, meeting Ranka's gaze with a self-assured smile.

"Well that would hardly be original, would it?" Ranka retorted, trying to prevent his lips from twitching into a smile, "After all I can't stop you asking Haruhi out, and as you say, you'll have to convince _her_ first."

Kyoya inclined his head in acknowledgement of the fact, and after a moment of strained silence he came to his feet.

"Thank you for your hospitality, but I should really get home," he said as he brought his untouched glass of water to the sink and emptied it, leaving it awkwardly to one side.

"Of course Kyoya-kun," Ranka replied easily, coming to his feet too and following the young man to the door and pulling it open. "Should I tell Haruhi you called?"

Kyoya eyed him speculatively for a moment before saying, "Please do. Tell her I hope to see her at the ball tomorrow night."

As he stepped over the threshold Ranka stepped after him, Kyoya turned and stilled as he found the taller man only inches away from him.

"Kyoya-kun, there is one last thing I should tell you." Ranka breathed with a dark smile, "If Haruhi does actually agree to go out with you, I won't stand in your way… but if you ever hurt my little girl, all the private police forces in the world won't stop me from making you regret it." He stepped back, relishing the shaken look on Kyoya's visage as he closed the door firmly in his face.

He leaned against the wooden partition for a moment, and heard nothing but shocked silence for a long moment, before Kyoya turned and left, his footfalls fading as he made his way down the steps. Ranka pushed away from the door, a wide grin etched on his face.

Original or not, no father worth his salt would allow any boy ask his daughter out without a warning of dire retribution for any misdeeds. And if any man wanted to date Haruhi he would have to be made of stern stuff to match her determination and drive. Kyoya may be that man, but he would definitely have his work cut out for him to be worthy of Ranka's precious daughter's attention. Besides it certainly didn't hurt to make a father's point clear either.

He laughed at the thought that he had been disappointed at missing his show; what had transpired this evening was better than any soap opera.

**Friday evening.**

"Stop pulling at it, you look fine!" Renge said in annoyance as she caught Haruhi's hand where it fidgeted with the dress.

"Indeed miss, it fits you perfectly." Marie's voice came from beneath the high dais where Haruhi now stood and she glanced down at the woman who was checking the hem of the dress as Haruhi endeavoured to remain still.

Haruhi felt a flash of embarrassment as she met the maid's gaze, "I'm sorry Marie. It's beautiful, I'm just not used to wearing something so… long."

"Well, it's a ball Haruhi," Renge replied exasperatedly, "you can hardly turn up in a mini-skirt."

"I wasn't wishing that either," Haruhi retorted in irritation before she caught Renge's mischievous grin.

The blond girl held out a hand and Haruhi grasped it as she stepped off the platform, feeling the swish of silken fabric brush against her skin.

"You ready for this?" Renge asked easily.

"Not really." Haruhi replied anxiously as she tried to find her balance on the fine stiletto heels. She turned to face the mirror, trying to reconcile her usual image with the reflection that faced her. Renge came to stand beside her, her shimmering dark blue dress and blond curled tresses a stark contrast to Haruhi's vibrant scarlet gown and sleek mahogany locks.

"Do you think he'll like it?" Renge asked, her voice pitched low and nervous. Haruhi glanced over at her and saw the taller girl chewing anxiously at her lip as she scrutinized her reflection.

"He'd be a fool not to," Haruhi reassured her with a smile, "besides, you know you look amazing."

Renge eyed her reflection for a moment longer before meeting Haruhi's eyes in the mirror and tossing her hair back over her shoulders, flashing her self-confident grin again.

"Of course I do… _we_ do!" She slipped an arm around Haruhi's waist, giving it a quick squeeze, "Kyoya is going to be blown away when he sees you in that dress."

Haruhi froze for a moment, a denial of her attraction to the dark haired boy slipping automatically to the tip of her tongue, but as Renge's knowing blue eyes met hers in the mirror she could feel the faint blush that was climbing her cheeks and sighed in reluctant admission.

"Thank you for lending it to me." She said gratefully, "It really is gorgeous."

"Did he really leave no other message with your father?" Renge asked as she held out a pair of earrings and a necklace for Haruhi to put on.

"No. Dad said that it was nothing important and that Kyoya said he would see me tonight instead." Haruhi slipped the jewellery on, trying not to dwell on the strange looks her father gave her as he passed that message on.

"Well at least I know you won't be able to avoid Kyoya tonight then." Renge grinned triumphantly, "I'd hate to think that dress would go to waste. And when you do see him, he'll…" The doorbell chiming downstairs cut Renge off, and Haruhi marvelled at the sight of Renge reduced from self-assured to a nervous wreck in mere seconds as she spun towards the door and began wringing her hands agitatedly. "That must be them!"

"I'll get it," Marie announced as she clambered to feet from where she had been packing away her sewing kit. Haruhi laughed at the easy relationship between the two as the maid shoved the box unceremoniously into Renge's grasp, before turning for the door.

"No! I'll get it." Renge retorted, handing the kit back to her maid, only to grab it back. "No you should get it… No, I want to…." She dropped the box in her nervousness, spilling its contents all over the floor and Marie eyed her exasperatedly.

She grasped Renge's hands gently and held her still. "I'll get the door and you pick that up. Take a minute to calm down and then make your entrance." Renge dropped her head in embarrassment and Marie met Haruhi's eyes in entreaty, she grinned her acceptance, silently assuring the older woman that Renge would indeed make a grand entrance.

Marie nodded and left to answer the door as Haruhi gingerly knelt and began to gather the dropped items, ignoring the fact that Renge was frozen staring at the door that Marie had departed through.

"Do you think he's down there?" Renge's voice drifted down to her uncertainly.

"Well considering you asked them to escort us, I certainly hope so." Haruhi replied good-naturedly as she came to her feet, placing the kit on the dressing table and coming to stand beside her friend.

She reached out to poke Renge playfully on the shoulder and handed her the gilded Venetian mask that matched her dress as she guided her to the door. "You go first. Just remember that you look great, he won't be able to keep his eyes off you."

Renge flashed her a grateful smile for the complement, but there was a shadow in her usually bright gaze that left Haruhi feeling inexplicably discomfited as she watched the statuesque blonde make her way elegantly down the curving staircase.

She turned away, regarding her own reflection again and trying not to feel ridiculous in the lavish gown that Renge had gifted her as she examined the delicate yet intricate make-up Renge had applied to her skin. She felt a thrill of nervousness at the thought of what people would have to say when they saw her dressed like this. But if she was to be honest there was one person in particular who was preying on her mind tonight, and as much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, she knew that when she saw him, she would be just as much of a nervous wreck as Renge had been. Her reflection stared apprehensively back at her and she glared at it, annoyed that Kyoya Ootori had come to have such a hold over her, when, despite what Renge might think, he would probably never come to consider her in the same way. She braced her shoulders, reaching to grab the scarlet mask from the counter before making her way down to join the others, trying to put the thought of encountering Kyoya out of her mind, at least for now.

She made her way cautiously down the stairs, striving to keep her balance in the glittering high heeled sandals. She could hear the sound of Renge and the twin's animated chatter coming from the living room. She came to the door and glanced in to see the boys, both looking dashing in their dark suits and exclaiming over some of Renge's artwork they had spotted on a table in the corner. Renge was looking embarrassed but slightly pleased at the twin's obvious approval of her talent and Haruhi breathed a sigh of relief to see that all signs of Renge's previous nervousness seemed to have passed and that she and Hikaru were chatting easily.

A low whistle of appreciation startled her and she glanced at the other brother to see that Kaoru had spotted her in the doorway and was grinning at her in admiration. She came into the room to join them at the same time that Hikaru turned to see what his brother was looking at. His eyes widened as he saw her and she watched him falter for a moment before a matching grin lit his features.

"Wow Haruhi, you look… amazing." He said, shaking his head in astonishment.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she replied, smiling brightly as she turned to include Kaoru, "both of you."

"I got you this," Hikaru came towards her, a small box in his hands and she eyed him curiously, "I thought white was best as it goes with everything."

He opened the box and Haruhi saw the delicate white corsage that lay within. Her eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment, feeling a strange swell of uneasiness as she regarded the personal gift. She glanced up at Renge questioningly and the blonde girl flashed her a small smile and held up her wrist so show a matching flower resting there. Haruhi relaxed as Hikaru eased the corsage from the box and proffered it to her and she held out her hand so he could slip it on.

"Thanks, it's really beautiful." Haruhi said enthusiastically and he grinned back at her, but as she glanced up she couldn't help but notice that Renge's cheerful smiles seemed to have dimmed a little.

"I guess we should get going." Kaoru said as he checked his watch, and Renge quickly voiced her agreement and led the way back to the foyer. Marie appeared at the same moment, handing Renge and Haruhi each a shawl matching their outfits, which they cast about themselves as she opened the door into the darkening spring evening, wishing them all a pleasant night.

The quartet made their way to the Hitachiin's waiting limousine, as the driver opened the door Hikaru ushered Haruhi in first. She hesitated for a moment, again feeling that something was not quite right about Hikaru's behaviour this evening but shrugged it off as just part of her own inexperience of formal events. She stepped in, only to be followed immediately by Hikaru who took the seat right beside her. Renge came to sit opposite them with Kaoru and again the imbalance was palpable to Haruhi, especially when she saw the disappointed cast of Renge's face.

As the car pulled away, Kaoru and Hikaru began chatting enthusiastically about the band that was going to play that night, while Renge stared absentmindedly out the window. Haruhi sighed, unable to shake the niggling feeling that tonight was not going to end well.

**Friday night.**

Kyoya pulled at the mask that covered the upper part of his face, trying to decide whether he was irritated more by the dark leather clinging to his skin, or the fact that because of the annoying guise, he was reduced to wearing contacts instead of his familiar glasses. Pushing his aggravation aside he returned his watchful gaze to the entryway, ignoring the music and the people milling around him as he waited for Haruhi's arrival.

"Have you seen her yet?"

Kyoya spun at the whispered voice in his ear and sighed in exasperation as he took in Tamaki's white-masked grinning visage.

"No. They still haven't arrived." He looked Tamaki up and down, shaking his head and smiling ruefully as he took in the blonde's attire, "Only _you_ would come to a black tie ball, dressed in a white tux."

"Well, considering how rarely I'm let out these days, I have to make the most of it." Tamaki leaned back, brushing invisible lint from his pristine lapels and grinned even wider as Kyoya rolled his eyes.

"I'm surprised your grandmother agreed to let you out at all." Kyoya muttered sardonically.

"It's a school event," Tamaki shrugged, "my father convinced her that now I'm "officially" a Suoh, it would look strange if I didn't attend."

Kyoya turned back leaning against the wall beside Tamaki as he returned his gaze to the hall's entrance. "Have things improved at all?"

Tamaki huffed in almost silent laughter, "I think I might be growing on her. I was playing the piano today before I came here, and she actually requested that I play one of her favourites and then complimented me." He glanced at Kyoya from the corner of his eyes and shrugged again, "It's a start, I guess."

Kyoya flashed him a smile, but as he watched Tamaki stilled and released a deep sigh as he stared at the opposite doorway. Kyoya followed his gaze there, confused for a moment as he saw the masked trio standing in the entrance, until he recognised the matching auburn hair of the disguised boys as the Hitachiin's and realised that the blond girl beside them must be Renge. He straightened as they entered, watching as Renge turned to speak to someone behind the twins. Then the boys stepped apart to allow the fourth member of their party to enter.

Kyoya froze as he took in the ruby clad vision that stood in the midst of the dark clothed others. Shorter than the rest, she still stood out amidst the crowd. The scarlet silken fabric clinging to her slender frame, leaving one shoulder bare and gathered in a cinched band at her waist before falling in vibrant cascades to the floor, where it trailed delicately behind her as she made her way down the steps with the others. Her dark eyes were hidden by a lace Venetian mask in the same hue, but somehow he knew that despite the disguise he would know her form anywhere, as lately, it seemed to have become branded in his mind.

He took an involuntary step forward as they reached the bottom of the staircase, only to halt as he saw one of the twins holding out a hand out to her in offer of a dance. She seemed to freeze at the same moment that Kyoya did, offering the twin an apologetic smile as she held up a scarlet shawl that she held grasped in her hands and turning to mutter something to Renge. The two girls turned away, making their way to door of the corridor where the cloakroom lay, calling something over their shoulders to the boys who remained on the steps for a moment before turning to make their way further into the crowd.

A hand landed on Kyoya's shoulder and he pulled his eyes away from where Haruhi's slight form had disappeared amidst the other party-goers to see that Tamaki had come to stand beside him again.

"Well that was quite the entrance." The blonde said with an appreciative grin.

Kyoya glanced around at the other student's, seeing that he was not the only one that had noticed the foursome's arrival. Some of the girls were standing in chattering groups, staring after the retreating form of the twin's, while a number of the males were gaping unabashedly in the direction that that Renge and Haruhi had gone. He had the sinking feeling that it was too much to hope their attention was focused solely on Renge, not when Haruhi was looking so spectacular this evening.

"Yes it was." Kyoya sighed in agreement, "Somehow I think I'll have some competition for her attention tonight."

"Well then, you'd better get moving." Tamaki smirked, giving him a playful shove even as he turned away in the opposite direction.

"Where are you off to?" Kyoya asked in confusion.

"Oh, I'm afraid you'll have to rescue your princess alone," Tamaki laughed and waved over his shoulder as he left, "I have my own prince to find."

Kyoya watched him leave, his white suit standing out even amongst the brightly clad revellers and silently wished him luck as he turned away to make his way through the crowd in search of Haruhi.

**OoOoOoO**

Half an hour later Kyoya was feeling his patience beginning to wane as he had still only made it a couple of feet from where he had first begun, having been caught in an inane conversation with the daughters of one of his father's associates. He pondered on what the point of a masquerade ball was, when despite the mask he wore, they had recognised him the moment he had walked by and latched on to him, exclaiming over how handsome he looked, how great the music was and various other topics that he couldn't give a damn about right now. But unfortunately he couldn't shake them off yet, not without causing offence.

As he listened to their pointless nattering with half an ear, he scanned the rest of the hall, hoping to spot Haruhi somewhere in the milling crowd. He caught a fleeting glimpse of her on the dance floor, laughing gently as the ever stern-faced Kasanoda awkwardly tried to keep time with the music. He gritted his teeth in annoyance, trying to keep a glare from his face, inwardly cursing the flame-haired man as he spun Haruhi out of sight again. Sighing he returned his attention to the vacuous girls that were holding him captive. Just as he felt his tolerance reaching breaking point, a classmate approached the older sister, requesting a dance and Kyoya took the opportunity of the two sister's giggling distraction to take his leave, before the younger could imply that Kyoya should take her dancing too.

He made his way purposefully through the crowd, keeping his eyes averted from anyone else he recognised, refusing to be drawn into any further pointless conversations. He climbed the steps of the entrance to get a better vantage, turning back towards the dance floor and immediately spotting Haruhi again, her scarlet dress flaring slightly as she was spun in a lazy circle before being drawn close again into the arms of one of the twins, though which one, Kyoya could not tell from where he stood. He tried to supress the surge of jealousy that flooded through him as he watched them, deciding reluctantly, that barging though the crowd and cutting in would not make the best impression.

As the music came to a close the auburn haired boy leaned in closer to her, murmuring something and gesturing to where the refreshments rested as he mimed a drinking motion. Haruhi smiled gently, shaking her head as she stepped back from him, saying something in reply and gesturing in the opposite direction, not seeming to notice the disappointed look the twin flashed her. She turned and walked across the dance floor, making her way thought the swaying couples as the band started their next number, and Kyoya watched her disappear though a door that led out to the hall's balcony. He started in that direction too, determined not to lose this opportunity to speak to her alone.

**OoOoO**

He stepped out onto the balcony and eased the door closed behind him, but Haruhi didn't seem to notice his arrival. She stood at the balustrade, her mask held in one hand as she looked out over Ouran's grounds and he took a moment to admire how beautiful she looked in the glimmering lights that had been strung along the walls.

"Escaping your hordes of admirers?" He asked softly.

Haruhi spun with a gasp as his voice reached her, one hand coming to rest over her heart as she stared at him.

"Kyoya, you scared me!" She breathed, a faint blush colouring her cheeks.

"Sorry," He replied, easing his mask off as he approached her and offering a half-apologetic smile, "I didn't mean to intrude."

"You're not," she replied quickly, waving vaguely back towards the door "I just needed a break from the dancing for a while."

"You do seem to be very popular this evening." He said, smiling as he came to stand beside her, "I was beginning to think I wouldn't get to speak to you at all tonight."

"Dad did say that you called yesterday and wanted to speak to me about something," she said carefully as she turned to face him fully, "was it important?"

"Very important," he replied with a soft laugh, "I wanted to ask you to allow me to escort you tonight. But it seems that you have gentlemen lining up to ask you out. And who could blame them; you look wonderful"

He watched cautiously, trying to read her reaction as she listened to him. She stiffened for a moment, before blushing again, darker this time, and he felt his smile widen at the sight.

"I – I didn't know you wanted to…" she hesitated, looking aside and shaking her head, "Honestly I had no plans to come tonight, but Renge insisted and you know what she's like. Then she suggested that the twin's escort us… so here we are."

"Well, I should have known better than to wait so long to ask," Kyoya replied easily, somewhat mollified that it had not been Haruhi's preference to go with someone else, "I certainly won't make that mistake again."

She eyed him shyly for a moment before asking, "What do you mean?"

He took a step closer to her and regarded her seriously, "I mean that I've spent the past week being a typical Ootori; thinking and planning the perfect scenario of how to ask you out, instead of just _asking_ you."

Her eyes widened in surprise, "You wanted to ask me out?" she asked haltingly.

He smiled at her astonishment, "Yes. Unless, of course, you have any objection?"

"No!" she said quickly and flushed as he smirked at her, "I'm just surprised. Why would you want to…" she trailed off, looking away in embarrassment.

His eyes narrowed as he saw her confusion, and realised that she honestly had no idea of the effect she had on him. He huffed an almost silent chuckle at her complete lack of vanity, but as she heard his laugh her skin darkened further in mortification and she took a step back from him.

But now that he was here, he wasn't going to allow her to run away, not until he finally got to tell her how he felt. He reached out to clasp her hand and keep her from leaving.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh." He said earnestly, "I just can't believe that someone so observant, can't see her own merits, or the effect that you have on the people around you. The effect that you've come to have on me for instance…"

She remained silent, but didn't pull her hand from his and he took another step towards her to recover the distance he had lost. He took a moment trying to decide how to proceed, and relishing the feeling of her hand in his as he brushed his thumb over her fingers.

"I've always put my education here at Ouran and my plans for my future ahead of everything." He began slowly, "In fact, until I met Tamaki I never gave any thought to making friends, only cultivating associations and acquaintances that would help me in the future. I certainly never gave a thought to obtaining a girlfriend, especially not from amongst the vacuous or conniving _ladies_ that come here."

She regarded him without comment, and he sighed as he continued, "Even setting up the host club with Tamaki aided me in that, as I could flatter and entertain the daughters of my father's associates, while still keeping my distance. And even when you joined the club, I was so determined not to be distracted from my plans, that although I could admire your intelligence and ambition, I didn't really _see_ you. Not until that night you came to the music room, and ever since then…"

He fell silent and Haruhi stared at him nervously, "Since then?" She asked hesitantly.

Kyoya chuckled dryly, "And since then I can't seem to get you out of my mind."

She dropped her gaze from his, closing her eyes as if embarrassed by his revelation. He took yet another step towards her, dropping his mask on the balustrade and raising his hand to her chin, tilting her face up towards his and willing her to open her expressive eyes once more.

"But that doesn't mean anything unless you could feel the same?" He asked softly.

Her eyes flicked open again, her dark brown gaze examining his as if looking for some sign of a lie. Whatever she saw there must have reassured her and she nodded slowly with a shy smile. His eyes were drawn to her lips for a moment and he felt an answering smile creep over his features as he leaned closer still, watching her eyes for any sign of indecision before capturing those tempting lips with his own.

She stilled for a moment and Kyoya almost pulled away, until he felt her move closer to him, her free hand coming to rest his on his shoulder as she tilted her head slightly to kiss him back. He felt her eyelashes flutter closed against his skin and smiled against her lips as he released her hand to wind his arm about her waist, his other hand tracing the length of her neck and along her bare shoulder as he caught her lower lip between his own and drew on it gently, relishing the softness and taste as her body came to mould itself perfectly against his.

He traced the curve of her lips with his tongue, barely registering the click of the door opening behind them, until…

"Haruhi are you out here?" A familiar voice called.

Haruhi stepped back from him with a shocked gasp and Kyoya barely restrained the urge to curse loudly at the interloper. He turned back to the person in the doorway and saw Hikaru standing there, a horrified look on his face as he gaped at the two of them.

The three of them stared at each other for a drawn out moment, until Hikaru looked down at the ground, his shoulders stiff and his face set in barely restrained anger.

"Sorry for disturbing you." He muttered as he turned back to the door and pulled it open.

"Hikaru?" Haruhi called after him in embarrassed confusion, but the twin ignored her call, as he stormed through the door and out of sight.

**TBC**


End file.
